A Sense of Achievement

Today I have sort of done things!  Slept in a bit -- probably should not have -- and after a quick stop to Meijer for more corn and watermelon, it was off to the gym for a solid workout.  Then I came home and undertook a couple of things I should have done long ago.  First, I cleaned out the living room closet -- it looked slovenly.  I didn't realize I own six pairs of gloves and four scarves!  About half of the stuff were things left behind by Aaron, and a big third were random things from Freedonia, so I packed those into the car for donation at the OC tomorrow.  The other half were things like afghans that I should clean or move. Anyways, I swept and swiffered, dusted, and put things back.  It just looks neater, and there is space for more stuff. Not saying it was a huge project -- and I am eyeing the hall closet for similar treatment -- but that and moving crap out of the living room is nice.  Then I cleaned the interior of the car; windexed the windows and wiped down the dusty interiors.  Again, not long but it just looks neater; I should take it for a wash and detailing, but baby steps.

I think tonight I will watch a movie or something saved on the Tivo and put out the OC half-year budget, which would be something good to do -- fiduciary responsibility, as we so often say.  I mean, it should just be done, and.... well, I am being lazy.  I should do some contract work, but that might be passed to tomorrow.  I think I may have an early dinner and then take a nice long walk, just to get some exercise; I weighed in at 184 pounds and I think we can do better!

It Was the Last Slave Ship to Reach the U.S. Or Was It a Hoax? - WSJ
Interesting; I always thought the Wanderer was, and then I heard about this one, but... how on earth do you prove this now?  I mean, even if it is true (and it could be!), we have the "Liberty Valance" problem of printing the legend and not the facts.  Of course, part of history is getting it right no matter what, so...

The Conspiracy of Silence to Protect Joe Biden (nymag.com)
I made a comment on Facebook that if this is true -- and it probably is -- this is as much a Constitutional crisis as the January 6 riots were, and should be treated -- and punished -- as such.  I think we all know of course that this will NOT happen, but nothing would make me happier if Speaker Johnson or Majority Leader Cormyn would insist upon this.  Or, better yet, the GOPers in the House and Senate going nuclear and stopping all business until it is done.  Course, having a majority in both houses...

Faculty, program cuts recommended at Cleveland State (signalcleveland.org)
I bookmarked this a few days ago, and as part of this day of achievement, I decided to crack open the PDF.  Quite interesting stuff.  Random thoughts, aside from the obvious one of "Who the hell is running the place that they are losing so much money?"

• Cutting the number of courses offered from 350-400 to half that would be... wise.  Quite frankly -- and I know this sort of gets away from the point of exposure to education -- but given the CSU student (generally non-traditional in one way or another) wouldn't it be more beneficial to pack in in-major courses at the expense of the pre-requisites?
• I assume cutting DEI types are a non-starter, but I would like it if someone in Columbus began stressing this.  Better yet, INSIST that the savings should be used to hire tenure-track faculty positions; what better way to attract students than to ensure that more of them will be taught by actual professors?!
• Athletics seems to be a giant black hole of money, even excluding the Convocation Center.  Sad, because I have been to a few home games (obviously need to go to more!) and it is a good deal (obviously too good).  That said... one obvious way to fix the gap is to schedule teams that are tougher but will pay you; I realize it sucks to be pasted by 2 or 3 power-conference schools, but it would help the budget, and you might win one...
• The stuff about partnerships with other schools and community colleges was spot on; I wonder if the issue is just that no one thought it was important, and, of course, taking classes at community college means you are not taking them at CSU, and you "lose" money.  Of course, getting more students -- especially non-traditional ones -- through the doors would bring in revenues over the long term.
• Also, why one Earth does one find such analysis on Signal Cleveland?  Shouldn't it be on cleveland.com?  Maybe it was but if it was paywalled...

I am about 3/4 of the way through Valley Forge -- indeed, winter is just ending.  I still thinking starting the book on the 4th was particularly inspired.  Anyways... I guess my main takeaway is that Washington probably should have fought more battles in 1777, before or after the fall of Philadelphia.  I realize there were logistical issues involved, but it did seem the army wanted to fight, Howe was very cautious (opportunities there), and, quite honestly, losing men in combat would have meant fewer mouths to feed.  The scandalous nature of how the army was provisioned (poorly if at all) is mind-blowing and angering even today; it's a wonder we had any army after any winter!  

Also, and this thought came to me last night, is that the Confederacy pretty much did the same thing as the Continental Congress did to fund the way, with exactly the same consequences -- runaway inflation, poor supplies, and armies that had just enough -- but not more -- to fight.  I realize that in both cases they really didn't have any alternatives, and just figured that after the way they would "fix" it later.  But... the Revolution was in some ways a living memory for the Civil War generation; the fighters were gone but not long, and plenty of people knew/heard some old-timer who was there.  Certainly, the political leaders were aware of the writings and issues faced by the Continental Congress... but I really don't seem to recall anyone saying "Gee, this didn't work last time, why try it now?" Odd.