points of interest: the downright offensive/ridiculous edition

1. globally-glorified Chilean miners denied pay for (underutilized/wasted?) time trapped underground

2. exporting Tuskegee... somehow an apology just doesn't seem to cut it

3. the source of Obama's failures has been realized: his "anti-colonial worldview." Of course, this makes perfect sense; what could be less American than a revolutionary disposition towards colonialism...

4. Pat Robertson finds Yoga "really spooky."

A scientific risk analysis for terrorism?

While fingering through a stack of used and outdated magazines at the gym yesterday, I came across a Newsweek article written by Fareed Zakaria, which posits that the American political, military, and psychological response to 9/11 has proven excessive. The subtitle of his article, available online here, is indeed rather candid: "It's clear we overreacted to 9/11." At this point, I imagine his argument strikes most readers as commonsensical, perhaps even banal. Yet we continue to pour resources into a multiplicity of wars, occupations, and covert "counter-terrorism" operations. Likely, the general level of hysteria required to justify this profligacy persists because there remain both: (1) enough people genuinely frightened of a broadly conceived "terrorist threat", and (2) enough people who retain an interest in its perpetuation. It follows then that if both of these groups could be eliminated, a change in policy might be more likely. For this project, I have a useful starting point: applying scientifically-tested risk-assessment techniques to the putative threat of terrorist attack.

In fact, Zakaria's article reminded me of a study I read in Foreign Affairs last Spring, which employed just such risk-assessment techniques in an analysis of the threat posed by terrorism. The article is available here.

To illustrate the thrust, consider the following quotes:

"Over the last several decades, academics, policymakers, and regulators worldwide have developed risk-assessment techniques to evaluate hazards to human life, such as pesticide use, pollution, and nuclear power plants. In the process, they have reached a substantial consensus about which risks are acceptable and which are unacceptable..."

"...Typically, risks considered unacceptable are those found likely to kill more than 1 in 10,000 or 1 in 100,000 per year..."

"...There is a general agreement about risk, then, in the established regulatory practices of several developed countries: risks are deemed unacceptable if the annual fatality risk is higher than 1 in 10,000 or perhaps higher than 1 in 100,000 and acceptable if the figure is lower than 1 in 1 million or 1 in 2 million. Between these two ranges is an area in which risk might be considered "tolerable...""


Now, lest this scientific language strike you as intolerably detached, keep in mind this kind of analysis' importance to formulating public policy in almost every regard: e.g. speed limits, medical regulations, workplace safety requirements, etc. Thus, it seems entirely appropriate to apply such an approach in the similarly safety-oriented endeavor of ensuring our collective defense from terrorist attack. But what do we find when looking at the risk presented by terrorism in a deliberately unemotional, empirical, and quantitative manner? This:



To quote the authors: "annual terrorism fatality risks, particularly for areas outside of war zones, are less than one in one million and therefore generally lie within the range regulators deem safe or acceptable, requiring no further regulations, particularly those likely to be expensive. They are similar to the risks of using home appliances (200 deaths per year in the United States) or of commercial aviation (103 deaths per year). Compared with dying at the hands of a terrorist, Americans are twice as likely to perish in a natural disaster and nearly a thousand times more likely to be killed in some type of accident. The same general conclusion holds when the full damage inflicted by terrorists -- not only the loss of life but direct and indirect economic costs -- is aggregated. As a hazard, terrorism, at least outside of war zones, does not inflict enough damage to justify substantially increasing expenditures to deal with it."

Perhaps its true that a picture (or a table) is a more eloquent communicator than any string of well positioned words. Still, I feel like articulating the question -- "should we frantically ramp up our counter-home-appliance measures?" -- in its stark preposterousness is worthwhile.

The full article is not to be missed.

Harlem RBI

There is a non-profit organization located not far from where Danie and I live called Harlem RBI, whose objectives since its founding in 1991 have been to educate and empower local youth through after school programs that combine academics and athletics. In total, the organization conducts 6 programs spanning ages 6-8 to 17-21. Its namesake comes from its approach to supplementary education, which fuses learning and college preparation with recreational baseball. The programs offered are free, with registration merely administered on a first-come, first-serve basis. The organization runs summer programs as well as year-round after school programs, in which daily activities are divided between the academic and educational, and the athletic. Far from functioning in its more common and more simple manifestation, the athletic component is consciously utilized to teach socially beneficial lessons in teamwork, mutual support, long-term trust, and community-building. The latter is also pursued through community service programs organized by the older age groups, as well as the organization's leadership. As illustration, the baseball field pictured above is not only one of the primary fields used for the program's athletic component, it is the site at which a formerly garbage-filled empty lot in East Harlem was renovated to its current condition by Harlem RBI. The park has since become a hub for community activities.

One of Harlem RBI's programs is the REAL (Reading and Enrichment Academy for Learning) Kids program for kids ages 9-12. Its goals are to: Improve attitudes toward reading; Maintain or improve reading skills over the summer to avoid summer learning gap; Improve ability to avoid and/or resolve conflict; Improve speaking and listening skills; Gain knowledge about nutritional health; and to Improve physical health and engage in daily physical activity. Its self-pronounced framework is to "use the power of team activity to help youth develop academic, social and emotional skills." The program boasts impressive statistics regarding its successes in improving participants' literacy rates as measured by state and city standards. Programs are administered by dividing participants into "teams," each of which is led by a pair of Harlem RBI staff members dubbed "Learning Coaches." These teams compete in intra-Harlem RBI baseball leagues while also functioning as the educational component's classes. The Learning Coaches similarly function doubly as baseball coach and academic teacher (as well as youth mentor, nutritional advisor, lesson-planner, etc.).

And I'm thrilled to announce that I am the proud S.E. (spousal equivalent) of a recently-hired 2010-2011 Harlem RBI Team Leader. After a rigorous application process requiring a letter of intent/resume/reference list, group interview, individual interview, in-person demonstration of a hypothetical ice-breaking exercise, and written interview examination -- completed by over 100 applicants -- Danie was hired by HRBI for the upcoming school year's REAL kids program. I could not be more excited for, or more proud of her. She is on cloud 9.

For a short video profile of the organization taken from local news coverage, check the 'WHO WE ARE' video on the lower-left part of their homepage.

Mid-September

This image plots all of the trees felled by the storm that blew through last Thursday. In case you didn't hear, Thursday we had a strange and severe, albeit brief, storm that included a couple of tornadoes. As you can tell, Manhattan was largely spared any serious damage, at least vis-a-vis Brooklyn and Queens. Danie and I had walked into our apartment from grocery shopping mere moments before it blew through our neighborhood, which was really lucky for us and for the dryness of our apartment. Thanks to everyone who sent me emails checking on us!

All of a sudden I realized I'm in the third week of the semester and I haven't been blogging much. I'm determined not to slip into that neglectful behavior again this Fall, so a quick update:

School is off to a roaring start. I am enjoying my classes and my course work very much, which is good because it's just about all I do now. I've cut down on working at the restaurant to 2 or 3 shifts a week, but my time still feels pretty constrained. Full time graduate study just really isn't very accommodating when it comes to other activities, be they social or occupational. I've also begun my research project with Third World Network on the G20's impending Seoul Summit Agenda.

Danie has been working quite a bit, and she's also been doing volunteer work at the ASPCA. She's also added bikram yoga to her exercise regimen, and has recently been seen going from yoga to the gym and vice versa. The lady's fitness is impressive.

The city is a veritable beehive of activity this time of year. With the UN back in session and the semester underway, the lineup of speakers and political-cultural events is almost overwhelming. This week Bolivian President Evo Morales is speaking in town, though I won't be attending because I have class. A week from tomorrow former Argentinian President, current Secretary General of MERCOSUR, and current first Gentleman of Argentina, Nestor Kirchner, will be speaking at my School, and fortunately Danie and I'll be able to make that discussion. I think one could get a comprehensive education in international affairs by simply attending all of the public lectures, discussions, and conferences being held this time of year. If only I didn't have classes...

WTF Friday*

A fabulously cheeky blog I follow called 'Wronging Rights' has a weekly feature they call 'WTF Fridays', in which they link absurd, bizarre, and opprobrious news stories from the week. Today, I'd like to nominate one story for WTF Friday recognition:

1. With near mind-numbing effrontery, BP tells Congress that if it passes legislation that bars the company from getting new offshore drilling permits, it may not have the money to pay for all the damages caused by its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

I'm actually speechless.

let the wild rumpus begin

As of yesterday, the Fall semester has begun. I had the first session of my first two classes last night, and tomorrow evening I'll have my third. I know many of you are also getting underway with new school years and I wish you the best of luck.

The summer came to a quick close, though it was not without its celebrations. Last week I visited California and it was really great to see so many of you before starting another semester. Here are some pictures from the visit.

After returning home this weekend, I had to work a couple of shifts at the restaurant. It will be interesting getting readjusted to school while also working there; hopefully they'll continue to be as flexible with my schedule as they've been thus far.

Sunday evening Danie and I went out for dinner and drinks to celebrate the end of summer and the beginning of Fall. Having been apart for a week, it was really nice to get out for some fun together before starting a busy week.

This Thursday Danie and I will be going to my University's Convocation ceremony. Otherwise we're just working, getting organized, and starting classes. As the semester unfolds, I'll continue carving out time for blogging. My goal is to be better about it than I was last year. So, you can expect to hear from me soon!

The Nielsen Family's NY Visit

Earlier this month Danielle's entire family came to New York. While Wendy and Ryan had both visited us individually, it was the first trip for Bob and Jake, and Jake's first time ever seeing New York. As such, we started with a marathon tour of the city.

On their first day in town, Danie took the family through Central Park, to the top of the Rockerfeller center, through lower Manhattan to Battery Park, and to the East Village for dinner. By the time I got off work that night, everybody had already gone back to the hotel room to crash, except Jake who was staying with us in our apartment.

The next day we set off on foot again, this time as six. We started out walking through the Chelsea market and the highline, and then we meandered through the beautiful bending streets of the West Village. After grabbing lunch at one of our favorite spots on West 4th, called Red Bamboo, we walked up through the Village to Union Square where we took the Subway down to the Staten Island ferry. The (free) ferry goes right past the Statue of Liberty and has unrivaled views of the financial district, so it’s a fun thing to do when touring the city.

Our last day in Manhattan, we went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and then walked through Central Park. That evening, we went to dinner in Times Square and saw the Adams Family on Broadway. The show’s cast and wit were hysterically funny, and Broadway always provides a feast for the senses. I really don’t think there exists a less-than-spectacular Broadway musical.

After three days in the city, we departed by train for a week in Long Island. Bob and Wendy generously rented a house that was sandwiched between the ocean and a bay. We spent the next few days relaxing, reading, working on a surprisingly challenging puzzle, playing board games, swimming, and sitting on the beach. The best part was just having a sustained period of time in which we could catch up and spend time together at a relaxed pace. As it had been over a year since we had all spent time together like that, it was really wonderful to reconnect.

In all, it was very meaningful and extremely memorable vacation. I am really grateful to have had the opportunity to spend time with the whole group at once, and again would like to extend my thanks to Bob and Wendy for planning and financing the trip. It is the sad reality that as we all get older and busier, coordinating schedules becomes far more difficult. The upside, however, is that when we manage to make a trip like this one happen, it is something we all deeply appreciate.

For pictures from the trip, click here.