Michael Braun's Blog

I’ve just registered BostianFamily.org – a website designed to help link together my mother’s side of the family. Now, it helps that this part of my family holds a reunion every year (at which I have been absent for the past 7) and that in general, they’re all pretty close-knit. But it is quite difficult to know what any family member is up to at any given time, without the time-consuming process of emails and calls. This statement surely points out my laziness, but also the difficulty in maintaining a large circle of contacts. In theory this website should help with that.

I’m a bit stymied as to what to put on the website, as my web design skills are quite sub-par. But a blog seems like a good idea (helpful for planning reunions and such) and email too. There’s some open source software designed for genealogy that I might install. I would love to hear any additional suggestions that you might have.

I wish Facebook had a software package you could install on your own website. I think these types of social networking sites offer ideal ways to keep people in touch with each other. I would love it if all my relatives had Facebook profiles. We could all be friends and keep track of what others are up to. But as I’ve expressed before, Facebook offers no easy way to make your profile look different to different users. So my family has access to information that might offend some of them. Take what you can get, I suppose.

This website might come of nothing, as I will be the one maintaining it, rather than driving new content. If planners of the family reunion have no interest in using these types of online tools, then it will surely fail. But as my cousins from my generation get older, we increasingly look to the internet to provide us ways to connect. Maybe this can be one additional way to keep an ever-spreading family together.

With some sadness, I announce the end of the winter holidays. Though I have no official work to do until January 20, and a vacation from the 3rd to the 9th, I’m through seeing all my relatives and will be heading down to campus today. I’ll probably work on the syllabus for next semester, as well as on revisions to a research proposal and perhaps some reading on research done on creative problem solving. This is all rather ambitious, as I will be on campus from 12 until 4, while Lauren works, but nevertheless…

While at my grandparents’ house yesterday afternoon, my uncle Steve brought out a game he had purchased on eBay. He had played it as a youth, then hadn’t seen it since and couldn’t remember what it was called. Finally, thanks to the internet, he was able to learn the title and procure a copy for just $41. The game is called “Yacht Race,” made by Parker Brothers in 1961. Only 1200 copies were ever produced. More on why that might be later, but suffice it to say, it was the most fun board game I have ever played. So fun, that I bought a copy immediately upon returning home, for $95.

Basically, you move your yacht from square to square on a grid, tacking around buoys to get back to the start as fast as possible. On the way, you deal with changes in wind direction (which you can change with your 12 wind change cards), speed boosts (by deploying your 3 spinnaker cards), and random chance (by drawing a Sailor’s Luck card if you sail over a square labeled such).

Here’s the box:

The board:

And the pieces:

As I said, this game was exceptionally fun. It is entirely strategy, even as you take your risks with the Sailor’s Luck cards. And, though called a race game, the pace is quite slow. The game lends itself to a lot of discussion about the best course of action, especially if playing with people you like or with new players. And while there are occasionally mean things you can do (change the wind direction to hurt someone else), most ships are usually going in the same direction. A wind shift would hurt you as well.

For these reasons, I don’t think the game did too well. Calling it a race makes it seem like people would expect a fast-paced game, perhaps even one without a lot of strategy to it. This game took a little less than an hour with three people playing. You have to think out most every move. Sometimes pauses for thought rivaled those in Scrabble. You count spaces, debate about wind direction changes, debate about whether to deploy a spinnaker (and thus go 5 spaces instead of 3), and debate about from what direction to approach the buoy. It’s a game for thinkers, though I see no reason why the game wouldn’t work for ages 10 and up.

Anyway, it should be here in 3-10 days. At that time, if you would like to play, give me a call!

Ever since I’ve been made to eat my words about the lack of a severe winter, travel has become especially difficult with snow storms coming every 2-3 days. And now, what with it being Christmas Eve, I would really like to get over to Milwaukee and Lauren to her dad’s. But you can hardly leave the house with heavy snow falling, roads snow-covered and slippery, and no end in sight!

So here we sit, inside, nice and warm, listening to Jazmine Sullivan, a neo-soul, R&B singer, who I read about in the New York Times. She’s up for five Grammy awards. Her voice is a little Amy Winehouse (and in turn, all that that brings with it) and a little Lauryn Hill. And a little [enter name of past R&B singer here]. But she writes her own songs, the production is good, and the album is catchy. Her slightly generic voice is hardly a weakness when compared to all her other strengths.

I think I might make some coffee. Or maybe some tea. Or maybe some tea brewed in coffee. We’ll be here for a while.

Amos makes a good comment on the last post.

In “Dracula”, those being stalked by the Count suffer from dreamless, non-refreshing “sleep.” Really, Dracula hypnotizes them so he can sip their blood during the night. Obviously, Meyer is tickling readers with this reference to the original vampire classic.

But, seriously…while waiting to check out at Borders yesterday I overheard one woman ask another if she should get a copy of “Twilight” for he niece. The other woman replied, “No–it’s really skanky. It’s skanky.” So now I’m curious–would you call it that?

I didn’t know that about Bram Stoker’s novel, but it’s definitely possible. Ms. Meyer claims that she bases her books on classic literature. Twilight was based on Pride and Prejudice. While I can see very, very little connection between those two works, her comment on literature does help us believe the mentions of dreamless sleep are a reference to Dracula. This is especially possible as Bella’s dreamless nights occur after she becomes infatuated with Edward.

As to the “skanky” comment, the dictionary on my computer defines “skanky” as “sleazy; sordid.” But it’s slang that carries a lot of connotation, including sexual promiscuity and uncleanliness. In the book itself, the lack of sexual situations is actually a key point. Ms. Meyer is Mormon and says she is influenced a lot by her faith. Based on this, I read a lot into the fact that Edward cannot have sex with Bella (they barely kiss), as his passion for her blood (her virginity) would become too strong and he might destroy (deflower) her. Yet as the books progress, Bella stays with Edward and they finally get married. Perfect romance, all because they resisted their bodily urges. (In the fourth book, he impregnates her and their half vampire/half human baby almost kills her. Read into that what you will.)

Yet the books contain a lot of sexual suggestion. First, in the few times that Bella and Edward do kiss, their passion is obvious. Edward has to tear himself away for fear he would hurt her. They also are each obsessed with the other’s scent and generally have the sickening intoxication of teenage love. Bella also becomes obsessed with becoming a vampire towards the end of the book, a subject that is treated with a lot of innuendo. Specifically, Edward takes her out of prom to sit outside, where they talk in vaguely sexual terms about what she thought he was going to suggest they do together (I read sex, she meant turn her into a vampire).

The final charge of skankiness comes in the subject matter itself. Vampires have been fetishized long enough for society to develop a distaste for them. What is possibly fascinating (any longer) about superhuman creatures who must drink human blood to survive? I see the appeal from a gothic literature perspective, as well as for film making. It’s a dark subject. But today, it’s been done so many times that I really question further work in the area. As for the skanky part of vampires – it’s too much virginal innuendo. Everyone knows what they’re really getting at (male viewpoint on rape fantasies).

I don’t disagree with those women. If you want to get your niece (or teenager girl you know) a book this holiday season, I would strongly recommend you go with something other than Twilight. Lauren recommends A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith and Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. I recommend the classics – how about some Jane Austen or any of the Brontë sisters? The His Dark Materials triology by Philip Pullman is also excellent (and may encourage antitheism). There are a lot of good books out there; Twilight is NOT one of them.

What an awful book. I just finished it, in less than 24 hours. The writing style is such that I had no trouble reading over 100 pages per hour. The story was dull, the writing was awful, and I really don’t see a point to the entire book.

The plot, summarized: Bella moves to Washington state to live with her father. While there, she meets and falls in love with a vampire (Edward). Because of this, her life is threatened by another vampire. But she is saved at the end by Edward, and they continue their love. The end!

Hinted for future books (you can read all the plots on Wikipedia): there are werewolves in the town who don’t like Edward and his vampire kind. Also, there is a vampire tracker who might want to kill Edward and Bella. And Bella wants to become a vampire so she can be with Edward. DRAMA!

I cannot recall reading a book more poorly written. Ms. Meyer seems to have a serious preoccupation with inconsequential details, something that all new writers struggle with. For example, when moving from day to day, what level of detail is appropriate to provide, especially in a book told in first-person? Should the author write about evening activities, even if they are unimportant? Should these activities be padded out with useless details? For example, when describing sleep from the previous night, Ms. Meyer writes that Bella did not dream. This detail seems pointless and yet is provided at least twice.

Then there’s the mundane plot. Vampires and werewolves? Why and who cares? This mythology has long since been exhausted. It is, quite simply, no longer interesting.

If you have 4-5 hours to kill, it won’t hurt you to burn through this book; it’s quite the pop culture phenomenon right now. But note: it is unlikely you will feel any compulsion to read the next book in the series. I may end up reading it over Christmas (as I borrowed the first from my 16 year old cousin Sara), but golly gee, what awful, awful stuff.

I had an interesting bus trip down to campus today. For those of you out of the loop, Madison got hit with a pretty big snowstorm overnight and into this morning. Word on the street is that we got 9 to 12 inches of blowing, awful snow (can’t wait to go skiing this weekend!). Because of the timing, those of us with morning commutes had to struggle with roads waiting to be plowed. But I had an exam to proctor! I wasn’t about to be derailed by a little snow!

I walked to the bus stop at 9:10 and got there a little before 9:15. According to the Madison Metro website, busses were running 10-20 minutes behind. Fine, I said, I can wait. But 9:35 came and went. Before you knew it, it was 9:45. I got a hold of Tony who said the Metro website now reported that busses were running on time. Finally, at 10:10, the 14 bus going west came by. The driver graciously gestured me (and the other person waiting, who had gotten to the stop before I had!) over to the bus. She said she was going up to Westfield and then turning around (and becoming the 10:17, I would have taken had I known the 9:15 wasn’t going to show up).

That bus showed up just in time, as my feet were covered in snow from tromping through the unshoveled sidewalks and stairs of my apartment building. I really needed to warm up. I’m proud to say that I was able to wait 55 minutes, in the cold and blowing snow, but I wish I had just stayed in until the 10:17.

So, come on, Madison Metro – what is your problem? Even 30 minutes late, I would have understood. Things happen, the roads weren’t great. But to not come at all and to have no means of informing waiting passengers that the busses wouldn’t be arriving? Tony had the same problem last year, when I went to pick him up from the West Transfer Point. Busses weren’t coming, dozens stood waiting, and NO ONE WAS THERE TO GIVE THEM ANY NEW INFORMATION!

If you do raise bus fares to $2.00, thus jeopardizing the ASM bus pass, can you at least use the additional money to not leave passengers freezing in the foot deep snow?

No Steve Jobs at MacWorld this year means a potentially disappointing event. Whereas previously, we Mac faithful have waited anxiously all morning to start reading live-blogs of the event, and then drooled over the newly released products, it’s quite possible that this MacWorld will offer none of the past excitement. I had hoped for an Apple NetBook, based on the iPhone OS, but now I doubt product updates will extend beyond the mundane technical revamps (faster processors and the like) and new version software. And this will be Apple’s last year at MacWorld, another disappointment. So what’s in a Steve Jobs leading your company? And what’s in Jobs’ health that means he won’t be at MacWorld?

To the second question first: I’m not concerned. Yes, Jobs has had a near-fatal brush with pancreatic cancer. He survived (quite unlikely) and Apple did everything to keep this from investors until he was out of the dark zone. But MacWorld is a huge event that happens right after the holiday season. Announcing big products here means that Apple misses out on the biggest shopping time of the year. Its placement is hardly ideal. Second, if you’ve ever watched Jobs’ keynote, you realize how much time he must put into it. It’s him (with maybe a few other folks) for an hour and a half, demoing products that are brand new. These high pressure times seldom pay off for CEOs (think of those hilarious clips of Bill Gates demoing software that crashes). And Jobs is not exactly the kind of CEO that wants to put his face all over things (rumor has it that in person he can be quite the asshole). Based on that, I am not surprised that he did not want to do the keynote, especially if this is Apple’s last year at MacWorld.

Now, to the first, and more pressing, question: what’s Apple without Jobs? When Jobs left the company, it went down the tubes. When he came back, it was onwards to the stars. I don’t know how much direct control Jobs has over specific products, but there is no denying the success of Apple products. If Jobs were to step aside soon (due to health or whatever else), could Apple continue to flourish? At this time, I’d have to say yes. Notebooks are thriving, and Apple has a very large share in that market. They have very few product offerings, meaning there’s less pressure to release new designs. And the operating system is excellent – a real selling feature for Macs. It’s unlikely that new releases of notebooks or OSs could spell doom for Apple imminently. While problems could brew over time without the fine editing eye of Jobs, it seems likely that Apple could survive without much trouble even through more difficult periods.

Jobs is truly irreplaceable and completely unique. We will never see another visionary like him, maybe ever. But Apple’s CEO is replaceable. I believe the company has a future – from now and for a long time coming. Jobs can’t be CEO forever, but he’s built a company that will outlast him.

The last time I completed any fictional work of great length was in 8th grade. So what’s that… 11 years ago? That was a story, covering two notebooks, of attempted murder, mob connections, and a wild international chase for justice – all done by me and two friends (and yes, we were in middle school). Escapist fare, to be sure, but it was fun to write and complete. Since then, I’ve attempted to write more, but never got anything done beyond a lot of poems and a fair number of short stories.

But when you’ve got plenty of ideas bouncing around, there’s always a push to try something longer. And from years of reading mystery novels and a childhood desire to be a PI, most of my ideas are mystery stories. I never wrote a short mystery story, and I never had an idea that could easily translate into greater length without a lot of sketching and planning. It’s been ideas and no production.

When things aren’t working, sometimes you have to blame the medium. Here I sit typing on this blog and thinking that any writing of length would be done on the computer. But there’s some great, secret pleasure to a fine pen and a nice notebook; it’s always inspired me. So on Monday, with the semester finished, I purchased some fine Moleskine notebooks and set to writing.

It’s a mystery story, joined by a plot piece from a sitcom and a line from an obscure Brazilian novelist. But so far, I’m feeling pretty good. It’s fun and relaxing to write fiction at night. It’s also nice to force yourself to write and then be unable to vanquish that writing if you later grow tired of it! When I type fiction, I use the delete key as much as the space key. But I can’t get involved in that kind of editing when handwriting. If this comes to anything, and I do end up typing it up, no doubt there will be substantial changes. But this way, any progress I make remains so, and I feel like I’m getting somewhere, even if it leads to naught.

Leave it to Charles M. Blow, op-ed columnist for the New York Times, to expose a dark secret about America’s youth. It’s probably news to you all, but according to Mr. Blow, young people no longer date; instead they just hook up. Shocked? Read the full article here.

Reports Mr. Blow, young people are dating less (high school seniors) and are hooking up more. Yet he also says that high schoolers are having less sex now than they have in the past. And that individuals who couldn’t get a date before are now just hooking up. He also notes that girls don’t like hooking up but guys love it (exactly what stereotypes would predict!). He also quotes a Kathleen Bogle, a professor at La Salle University in Philadelphia, who says that young people have lost the ability to date and get to know each other.

I hate to reject someone who is trying to predict a larger trend or think about the future, but has Mr. Blow ever spent any time around young people? Based on my limited experience, young people today and forever have spent a vast amount of their energy trying to have sex. Whether that meant dating or drunken hook-ups, it didn’t matter. The millennial generation didn’t change this; take a look back at novels from 80 years ago (I’m reading It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis, written in 1935; in the book, the main character asks his teenage daughter if she’s had sex yet. She says no, but she says she will when the opportunity arises.)

I think Mr. Blow, like so many other academics, has been brain-washed by the Christian Right. They would have us believe that until just this decade (or last decade, or the decade before, stretching through history), everything was perfect. But now, because of the media, the arts, the schools, the gays, the parents, the teachers, the politicians, the government, et cetera, et cetera, teenagers are hopelessly corrupted. Never fear, though – if you turn your life to Christ everything can be recovered.

How the hell can Mr. Blow write with a straight-face that young people don’t date anymore? Can he think of no other reason why high school seniors might report that they aren’t interested in dating? Here’s half a dozen reasons I came up with in less than a minute.

1. More focus on life after high school.
2. No motivation to marry until after college graduation.
3. A strong desire to move out of their hometown.
4. Higher pressure to get into a good university.
5. Pressure from parents on not dating.
6. Increased maturity and realization that a high school relationship will most likely NOT last.

Sure, if you can get sex regularly, maybe you would feel less motivation to date, but Mr. Blow also reports that (according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) teens are having less sex and less sex with people they don’t know. Teens may be hooking-up, but this hardly spells doom for America and a whole paradigm shift. And above all, it most certainly does not mean that teens don’t know how to date.

Mr. Blow – next time you want to comment on a perceived trend, stick to something you know (graphic design, according to his NY Times biography).

Oh Blago, who did you think you were, trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat? Maybe a mob boss, just asking people to be your friend? Too many views of The Godfather probably. Or maybe you modeled yourself after other Illinois’ politicians, figuring it’s just expected that you would act corrupt. Maybe you thought yourself a big player celebrity who can get away with anything and have the courts find you innocent. Whatever it was, you are an idiot.

You don’t go into politics for the money. Maybe there’s money after you leave, especially if you rise high enough. Bill Clinton has certainly made off like a bandit with his book deal and speaking engagements. And Obama has done really well himself because of his book deals. But in terms of what you get from politics itself, chasing the cash is a fruitless (and often illegal) proposition. So for Blago to be trying to get something for Obama’s Senate seat, he seems ridiculously short-sighted.

You do get power from politics, and maybe that’s what did Blago in. He’s like Gandalf, can’t handle carrying the ring because he knows he’d use it to get cash for a Senate seat. And he might try to get the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune fired. I’m just shocked that he couldn’t remain content with just power until he was out of office. Word on the street is that he was considering a presidential run sometime in his future (2016, seems most likely). If he’s lucky, he’ll be out of jail by then so it’s still possible!

Even if Blago was a complete moron, you still have to wonder about those people around him. His wife is on some of these tapes encouraging his actions. Maybe she was trying to undermine him, but it seems more likely that at some point in time this deviance from ethics and morals became normalized. To them, it seemed logical and appropriate to ask for a kickback. But seriously, you can’t go into politics for the money. It’s like academia; if you love it, you can deal with the money. If you hate it, but try to get rich anyway, go get a real job.

I just finished up my take-home stats exam, which means I have two research proposals and final grading to go before I am completely done with the semester. Those two papers (and the exam) are due on Monday, meaning next week will be grading and final grades. I’m sure to spend most of the weekend on the final papers, but nevertheless, I feel like I am very close to being done.

It’s been a good semester overall. My initial hesitations and concerns about not meeting new people proved groundless, as I made a lot of new acquaintances and friends. Next semester, I expect my classes to be filled with people I already know; this has obvious positives and negatives. It was a relief to find that one indeed can make new friends in graduate school, rather than exist as a pariah among a sea of undergraduates.

As for the class I TAed, it ended very well. I projected my poem before the final exam, where it met with rave reviews (and hopefully lightened the mood for those students feeling nervous about the test). I tried to shake a lot of hands as my students finished up the test, hoping to cement positive relationships. I had no troublesome students, which was not a surprise to me (though was for some other people). One student told me that Lyn and I were the best professor/TA combination she’d ever had. Hopefully my reviews will come back positive.

Anyway, it will be a busy weekend, but if you want to get together next week, my schedule is very free. Let me know!

I wrote this poem today to put up before my students’ final exam today. It is, without a doubt, the worst poem I have ever written. It’s Hallmark quality.

The Cheesiest Poem Ever
By Michael Braun
Written December 11, 2008

Your dreams are wings, so take to flight.
Your hopes are candles. Use their light!
When your feet do step, you’re on your way.
No matter your doubts, today is a good day.

If your head does spin, then take a seat.
Some time to rest won’t make you weak.
If your doubts transfix, as they will do,
have no fear – I believe in you!

Last night, I had the non-pleasure of watching the often inept John Stewart debate the complete moron Mike Huckabee. It was more than painful. Specifically, hearing John Stewart tell Huckabee that he understood why the Religious Right wanted to ban abortion and saying that he agreed that we should try to end the practice. John – if it’s a human right and should be legal, then why are you trying to stick your nose into other people’s business? As Dan Savage pointed out in this week’s Savage Love, abortion is a better option than being born with rotten parents.

But aside from that debate, they also went back and forth (with less agreement) about gay marriage – John for, Huckabee against. Yet John failed to ask the right questions, meaning the debate was often about things that are completely irrelevant. They weren’t fighting the same fight. Here are questions you must ask if you are to debate anyone on gay marriage.

1. Are people born homosexuals or do they choose their preference?
Let’s say that there are some people who choose to have sex with horses in order to undermine and destroy society and now they want to be able to marry horses. Should we grant them that right? Very few people would support that. Well, Mike “I’m Dumber Than A Box Of Toads” Huckabee thinks the same thing about same-sex couples. He thinks they have a “homosexual agenda,” that they are trying to destroy and corrupt America’s youth, and that they purposefully subvert society. If you believed that nonsense, you wouldn’t be for gay marriage either. Yet John never asked that question.

2. Is marriage something to do with a mythical higher power or is it a legal contract signed between two consenting, unrelated, unmarried adults?
If this is about god, how will a debate change anyone’s mind? Huckabee isn’t about to convince me that there’s a god telling all humankind how to form partnerships. And I’m not about to convince him that he’s a psycho Christian nutjob. So what’s the debate? John Stewart seemed to be saying that marriage has been different through the ages, so what’s wrong with expanding the definition now? Huckabee said that if we legalize gay marriage, we have to make it legal for any two beings to get married. These non sequiturs are only possible when two people aren’t talking about the same thing.

3. Is the debate about voter preference or about human rights?
Huckabee cited all the states who have explicitly banned same-sex marriage. He said this was proof that people don’t want to redefine marriage and change traditional marriage. But what if it had gone the other way? There’s no way he would switch his preference just because the voters had spoken out in favor of gay marriage. And what about human rights? Just decades ago, it took verdicts in courts to legalize marriage of two consenting, unrelated adults of different races. It took the courts to end segregation. Is legalization of same-sex marriage in the courts similar to these cases? Or should we let the ignorance, bigotry, and homophobia of voters carry the day? Is this about rights or about whims?

If you don’t ask these questions, you cannot debate gay marriage on equal terms. So if you find yourself in the unfortunate situation of having to debate Mike Huckabee, or another psycho Christian bigot, do yourself a favor: make sure you are having the same debate.

Two brief comments on the state of modern blogging.

1. Increased propagation leads to vapid, look-at-me entries.
As more and more individuals begin to have blogs, more and more people are writing about themselves. That’s great. It’s healthy to be able to express your emotions and cathartic to put it down in type. But there is a rather distinct line between writing about yourself and writing a blog dedicated to the wonderful individual that is YOU! Specifically, I’m talking about any entries/blogs whose singular purpose is to expound on how deep is that author. “I am so deep. It would take someone months to figure me out. Even my great friends don’t know me, because I am such a mystical fountain of wonder.” This style of writing is not interesting.

Now, it’s entirely possible that I feel this way simply because individuals writing this style of content are not people I know. When I stumble upon these blog entries, I’m usually several steps removed from the author. But that makes the content even more egregious! If you are writing for your friends to read, then why are you spending time writing about how wonderfully mysterious you are? You’d do better to try to write something personal in the hopes that your friends would be able to understand your crazy ass a little bit better, since apparently it’s impossible because you’re like a slow river – so DEEP!

2. “Open Thread”!
If you have a blog, it’s for your writing or for a variety of people to write on one topic. It’s not designed to be a comment free-for-all for your dedicated readers. To those bloggers fond of these “open threads,” if your readers are so insightful, why don’t you pick a couple and have them become regular guest bloggers? In the end, it just strikes me as laziness.

It’s not like these two things are going to collapse blogging, but I do think they speak to a larger, cultural stereotype about bloggers. Think how easily some politicians have dismissed us. This stereotype will only be reaffirmed with lazy posting and narcissistic rants. Now pardon me while I wait for readers to comment, go stare at myself in the mirror, and re-read old posts to recall my past brilliance.

Barack Obama, our can’t-be-soon-enough and de facto president, is a great man. He’s also got some great ideas. Whether they are mostly talk, will be blocked by Congress, or won’t do any good is another question, but I love his ideas for a stimulus that goes far beyond pumping cash into banks. Obama seems to be pitching for a whole lot of new governmental spending as a way to kickstart the economy.

Some of us may recall that before Bush we had a president called Bill Clinton. He was a super smart guy, just like Obama. And he understood that there are two ways to grow the economy. You can reduce binds on private enterprise or you can increase government spending. Clinton encouraged both, and this resulted in some great economic times. While all good things must end, the economy was slowing down as Clinton left office. But his success remains undisputed (despite what former high school teachers might tell you about the ’90′s boom years being due to Reaganomics – yah right, Jeff Buczek!).

Obama’s proposed stimulus is sounding more and more like Clinton’s increased governmental spending. Obama wants to increase spending on public works projects. This will help individual states and workers, as well as increase federal income. Plus, it helps shore up our failing infrastructure (recall the bridge collapse in the Twin Cities last year). Obama has also proposed increasing broadband propagation and helping schools purchase computers.

Here’s my crazy feeling about the stimulus; feel free to call me an idiot. I think that Obama’s idea of a stimulus package is something that both helps revive our economy and also (I’m going out on a limb here) tries to make America a better place. What a radical notion! I’m so used to a president who seeks to destroy the economy and the country; it’s quite refreshing to now have the opposite!