You gotta keep the Devil way down in the hole

This phenomenal infographic shows what local law enforcement officials deemed the greatest threat to their respective communities. I think this is fascinating. Methamphetamines and cocaine look to be so overwhelmingly destructive, especially out West and in Florida (cocaine in Florida? Color me surprised). I'm equally fascinated at how in New Jersey and New York, heroin is judged to be less a concern than marijuana, but in New England everyone is shooting up like Miles Davis. Check this thing out, and the re-watch "The Wire" to be depressed about the state of the drug wars in this country.

I opposed the renovation work in Washington Square Park about 4 years ago, thinking that change here was a code word for soulless sanitization of an essential bohemian spirit. That spirit was part of what attracted me to NYU in the first place, and I was reluctant to see it altered. Over the years as renovation expanded, I realized that the disruptions were minimal and the park was still largely usable. I felt the wind slowly come out of my righteous sails.

Now, in May 2009 as I sit in the park, I feel chastened. The park is cleaner, more open, and still a place where people are lounging about with no discernible aim. It has managed to look, and certainly smell, vastly better while keeping what I always loved about it. To wit, a man stands just 20 paces from me with a comically large beard reciting passages from The New York Post, calling the former Vice President some horrible expletives.

Same as it ever was.

I count mine in intervals of 10,000

When I see cool little videos like this, I can't help but think that the internet is completely worth it.

Now I'm ready to offer full throated support.

Thanks to closed captioning, I now know that Roe v. Wade is about a woman's right to choose. It's not, as I previously thought, about a woman's right to Choo's.

Now I see what all the fuss is about.

Don't Stop Believing is the most downloaded song on iTunes recorded in the 20th century. Killer tune with pseudo-deep lyrics? That's a license to print money.

Portland seems like a lush and lovely paradise. I think I'd like everything about living in Portland except the smug assholes who live there.

Of all the pernicious -isms out there, I think we can agree elitism is the best. That or rectangular prisms.