To Do List

Entrepreneurs need not be grammarians; this stall was doing a booming business in the New Maxwell Street Market in Chicago, Illinois. (courtesy of Atelier Teee, Flickr.com)



The New Maxwell Street Market (now on Canal Street) is near the top of my things to do before I leave the city.

How the Other Half Lives

The NYT did a story about MTV's show, My Super Sweet Sixteen. If you've ever seen it, you know that the show is like a freaking train wreck. You don't want to watch, but... Here's my favorite quote from the story.

[Her] graduation gift package included a Bentley, diamonds and two homes in India. "I was really surprised," Divya said, "because I was only expecting a Bentley and one house."

Peace in the Mideast, Otherwise Known as a Pipe Dream

This is wrong.

But, this is wrong too.

And, this is how our government feels about it. From the same article, "Asked by reporters to confirm that Washington alone had opposed issuing the statement, [U.S. Ambassador John] Bolton responded, 'If I were the only holdout, I'd be proud of that fact.'"

Also, "the Jewish state says it is not intentionally targeting civilians and has warned residents to leave parts of northern Gaza from where militants often launch makeshift rockets." Easier said than done? I don't know. You tell me. The whole of the Gaza Strip is only 139 square miles and has a population of more than 1.4 million. It is an area roughly twice the size of Washington, D.C., with a population of nearly three times that of our nation's capital.

If I sound like I am taking sides, it is not my intention. I am concerned, however, that both sides in this soul-rotting cycle of violence aren't being condemned by the world for their respective roles in the perpetuation of this nightmare.

This is what was accomplished at today's meeting.

In short: Nothing.

Reporting Lesson 2: Ask All The Right Questions

In stark contrast to my last post, here is some more reading material. It's Vince's latest story - impeccably reported and written - from the State-Journal. The headline's a little sensationalist (okay, a lot), but my tow-headed friend regrets that as much as you do. More. Editors can be so thoughtless in their zeal to sell papers.

Reporting Lesson 1: Writing About Dead Guys

Here's an unspeakably bad story (it's not mine), but don't let that deter you. It's been making the rounds here at the J-school. Read it. It's riveting, like a train wreck. Also, check out the comments. There are just some things inquiring minds don't want to know.

Trent Update

A few of you have asked, so here is the update on Trent. Here's my previous post about his "project."

Extra, extra

The amount of information I consume on a daily basis these days is ridiculous. I thought I'd cull the most interesting or thought-provoking news stories and list them here. Enjoy.

1. "'Gospel of Judas' Surfaces After 1,700 Years" - New York Times.
Guess what it says. "He told me to do it!" -Judas.

2. "In Court Filings, Cheney Aide Says Bush Approved Leak" - New York Times. Duh.

3. "2 profs spark political firestorm" - Chicago Tribune.
Duo from U. of C. and Harvard write that a powerful lobby has been able to force U.S. foreign policy to serve the interests of Israel.

4. "It's Not The Pits" - Forbes.com.
I spent the morning at the Merc and the Board of Trade, so this fits right in with the theme of the day. Also, the article opens with trader Yra Harris, who feels like an old friend. When I worked at VMS, he updated me on the markets twice everyday, first on CNNfn and then on Bloomberg.

He's no Jack Sparrow

Along the same cheery lines, here's something I came across in the L.A. Times. They can't catch Bin Laden, but I sure feel safer knowing that the feds have nabbed this hardened criminal. It's always heartwarming to see our tax dollars at work, n'est-ce pas? I bet he was the lone rogue at the University of North Carolina who had any stolen music on his PC. It's a little hard to feel sorry for him, though, after this "if you give me probation, I'll preach at my peers" letter. I don't think this pirate is entirely convinced that it's the artists who pay the biggest price either. He's mostly sorry he's in trouble.

Everybody wants something for nothing, and I've come to learn that "free" music is anything but. The hidden cost is enormous. Although I am unqualified to opine on the price of piracy for the artists whose work is stolen, I can describe the price I've paid.

Stealing, no matter how little, or how easy, is never right. There is no justification for downloading music without paying. I'm not just saying this to reduce my sentence; I want to get the message out to young people who might not otherwise understand — copyright infringement, whether it is buying a bootleg album from a street vendor or downloading a song from the Internet, has very serious consequences.

I may be a little dense (especially after the fall), but I fail to see how music file sharing is very different from libraries. It's a good thing, I guess, that I'm not in a position of having to ask a judge for leniency.

P.S. There was a really neat photo series about soldiers in Iraq and medicine on the front lines at the L.A. Times earlier today, but it seems to have disappeared. I'll check again tomorrow. If it reappears, I'll let you know.

Update:
Oh. Here it is. Two things about this slideshow: 1. It has sound with it, so try to watch it on a computer that has speakers so you can hear the interviews that go along with the photos. 2. It's not for the faint of heart.

Alone and Alive

I was up late working on my beat (pharmaceuticals) report for today. I had had three hours of sleep, when I stepped out of my apartment this morning to find the carpet in the hall being shampooed. Despite a conscious effort to be careful, I fell down a set of slippery, concrete stairs for the second time in two weeks (the first time was at the airport upon my return from spring break). This time really hurt, and I had to sit there on the floor for a minute to make sure everything was okay. And then I wanted some sympathy. I wanted someone to ask if I was okay (which I wasn't), but there was no one. The cats don't care, as long as I make it back before they can see the bottom of their food bowl. I had a fleeting impulse to call my mom, but I remembered that I'm twenty-eight, not eight. Instead, I peeled myself from the floor and dragged my ass to the train, in the rain.

The Elephant in the Room

In yesterday's Chicago Tribune there was a story about Tom Skilling (if you'd like to view it without signing up with the Tribune, go to the website Trent recommends in the comment for a temporary password. If not, here's a much shorter AP version of the story), the brother of ex-Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling. In it he talks about how difficult the criminal fraud and conspiracy trial has been for the Skilling family. Tom Skilling, it turns out, is the chief meteorologist at WGN-Ch. 9 news, which is owned by the Tribune Co., and he edits the Tribune's daily weather page. The article is entirely transparent with these facts, and I suspect this is the entire reason for the story in the first place (i.e. Other people in Chicago already knew that Tom Skilling is Jeffrey Skilling's brother. I think the paper was trying to get this out in the open, in the interest of transparency).

My problem with the story is that it never answers the one question I really want the answer to: Did any of the Skilling family make (or lose) money just before the Enron collapse? I was disappointed because I'm curious and I want to know, but also because otherwise the story is a puff piece with Tom Skilling saying little more than that he blames the indictment and trial for the failing health of his octogenarian parents and that he loves and supports his brother. Nothing I didn't expect there. It also does the opposite of what I suspect it was supposed to do. Because this reporter soft-balled Tom Skilling and didn't ask the tough question (and an editor apparently ran the piece on the front page without insisting the question be asked), I now wonder about the objectivity of the paper in its coverage of the trial. Needless to say, I sent my first letter to the editor. I'm a paying subscriber, and it's irritating that I read the entirety of a somewhat lengthy story and didn't get the answer to the obvious question.

In the interest of transparency (for all six of my readers), I'll tell you that I have a bias, and that last night I watched the documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, which I highly recommend. One of the striking anecdotes in the film occurs in a conference call between Skilling and analysts. One financial analyst asks why Enron can't release a balance sheet or cash flow statement with their earnings like all other companies. It's amazing to hear Skilling sputter for a few seconds and then just call the guy an asshole before ending the call.