"Happy flamingos!" written by Heidi on estrip.org

Category: weather

12/16/10 02:00 - 25.ºF - ID#53285

Happy flamingos!

Cute!

Permalink: Happy_flamingos_.html
Words: 2
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/16/10 02:00

Category: contrast

12/15/10 02:03 - 20.ºF - ID#53278

Census data

The NYT has published interactive maps by census tract of race, income, educational achievement, home values, same-sex couples...

The census tract that includes Blossburg, 9907, is really big and covers one of the more wealthy areas of the county - a little distorting. I can't get it to just show me by zip code - Census tracts are much bigger than zip codes in Tioga County, while they're only a couple blocks tall/wide in Buffalo.

Same-sex couple households
Census tract 68 (my apt): 2%
Census tract 6702 (including the 24) 5%
Blossburg's census tract: 0%
But the neighboring one where I know my old friends Vince & Jeff live - 1%! :-)

Median household income
Census tract 68: $34K
but the tract behind me, 7101: $16K, and the one next to that $11K.
Blossburg tract: $43.9K

Race & ethnicity
Census tract 68: 67% white, 16% black, 14% hispanic
Census tract 7101: 16% white, 36% black, 45% hispanic
Blossburg tract: 98% white

Education
Census tract 68: 93% high school diploma, 50% bachelors degrees
Census tract 687101: 49% high school diploma, 6% bachelors degrees
Blossburg: 88% HS 21% bachelors (distorted by including the Wellsboro area)
Morris Run: 89%, 13% (more typical of Tioga County)

How do areas in your life compare?

tinypliny writes at 11:53:05 12/15/10 - Comment #59791: I agree. I am fascinated - this is probably the backbone of all of our epidemiological studies. In fact, I just spammed your link to ALL of my department. Thanks, (e:heidi).

:-)

oda writes at 10:23:40 12/15/10 - Comment #59787: I moved out of Buffalo to Holland, NY, census tract 15003, almost 2 years ago. Holland is 12 miles southeast of east aurora, the last town in Erie County We are bordered by Cattaraugus and Wyoming Counties.

Population of our zip code is about 1200, which includes both town and rural areas. We don't have a grocery store or a gas station, but we do have a pizzaria, a hardware store, and a liquor store.

FYI, most of the rural folk have land. That means they have money. Most of the townies probably have much less money. I don't know how many are town folk and how many are rural in our area.

white population: 98%

hispanic population: 1%

foreign born: 1%

same sex couples: 1% (up 1% since 2000)

median income: $66,300 (up 10% since 2000)

median home value: $137,500

high school graduates: 91%

college grads: 23%

masters degrees: 9%

elementary school students in private schools: 0% (we have an amazing school system, I have heard)

Heidi, this is the most interesting thing i've seen on the internet in a very long time--thanks!!!!

tinypliny writes at 09:31:52 12/15/10 - Comment #59782: I am really getting into this now. There are just 2% Asians in my tract, 3% hispanics, 1% others.

59% of us earn below 30K a year (typical grad school "earnings"), we got 2% poorer since 2000. 3% earn above 200K - I am sure these are the ones living in those Lexington condos. I pay above the median rent of $604, and apparently the rent has not changed much (+1%) since 2000 - but I swear it has, look at all my whining in the past couple years! The median home value has gone up a whopping 61% to $297,700, so I guess I will never be able to buy that mansion next to (e:PMT)'s.

There has been a 3% increase in sanity in the neighbourhood as evidenced by an increase of 3% in same-sex couples up to a total of 5% of the population in the tract. 91% of us have graduated from high school, slightly more than half of us have graduated from colleges and one fourth have a masters or higher.

KEWL.

tinypliny writes at 09:15:27 12/15/10 - Comment #59781: Alrighty, I found something interesting.
I am in Census tract 6702
Foreign Born Population - 6%
So I am a super-minority.

heidi writes at 08:41:34 12/15/10 - Comment #59779: about effin' time, ya damned lurker.

puddlediving writes at 08:35:19 12/15/10 - Comment #59778: I found this interesting enough that I joined estrip so I could comment. :)

I compared 3 neighborhoods, Riverside west of Ontario (55), Riverside east of Ontario(54), & Topeka, KS where I grew up (29).

All were 0-1% for same sex households

Median household income
Riverside (west)55: $19889
Riverside (east)54: $70,179
Topeka 29: $30,426

Race & ethnicity
55: 64% white, 19% black, 11 % Hispanic, 3% Asian, 3% other
54: 85% white, 9% black, 3% Hispanic, 2% Asian, 2% other
Topeka: 43% white, 27% black, 18% Hispanic, 12% other

Education:
55: 73% HS, 11% bachelors, 5% Masters
54: 95% HS, 57% bachelors, 34% Masters
Topeka 79% HS, 6% bachelors, 2% Masters

Some of the things that surprised me: The neighborhood I grew up in is more ethnically diverse than the Riverside neighborhoods. I even wonder what the 12% other is, as that is a significant portion.

I was also surprised at the disparities between the neighborhoods in Riverside. Such a jump in income and education (which I'm sure are correlated) based on which side of Ontario Street you live on. I'm sure the third that have Masters degrees help bring the median income up!

tinypliny writes at 05:38:03 12/15/10 - Comment #59752: I wish I could trust census data from Delhi. I can't.

Permalink: Census_data.html
Words: 187
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/15/10 02:03

Category: weather

12/14/10 06:21 - 19.ºF - ID#53273

Ornament inspiration?

I took these shots from my bedroom window this afternoon. Were Christmas tree ornaments inspired by such little gems as this? Matthew's fantasy Victorian tree with its vintage ornaments (e:matthew,53209) made me think of a big bag of shiny red fat teardrop ornaments with snow caps that I used to have, which I loved and hung on the chandeliers. The tree also reminded me of those. I left them, along with nearly every other holiday item I owned, with my brother when I left for school and sold him my house. I can't find an image of those exact ornaments, but these red ones are kinda close and at least show the style. My dad used to work for Corning Glass Works, which was a supplier of classic "Shiny Brite" ornaments, so I think that's where they were from. He'd bring home ornaments every year.

(same shot, different cropping)

Permalink: Ornament_inspiration_.html
Words: 158
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/14/10 06:32

Category: weather

12/13/10 10:00 - 12.ºF - ID#53268

If ya didn't know...

It's snowing.

Permalink: If_ya_didn_t_know_.html
Words: 3
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/13/10 10:00

Category: school

12/13/10 12:48 - 13.ºF - ID#53259

Final tally

Three empty waterman pen refills for 58 handwritten pages of notes.

I couldn't find replacement nibs for it that (e:tinypliny) suggested are fun to trade. I'd love a fine point. The medium point is quite broad and doesn't give the nice thick-thin strokes that I like. I might not have been as picky about fine point pens when I bought it about 12 years ago. I still like the purple ink :-)

Permalink: Final_tally.html
Words: 72
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/13/10 12:49

Category: school

12/12/10 04:48 - 35.ºF - ID#53249

Fountain pen refills

I broke out my waterman fountain pen to work on studying for my local government law final tomorrow. I'm on my third refill.

Permalink: Fountain_pen_refills.html
Words: 24
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/12/10 04:48

Category: school

12/08/10 07:54 - 20.ºF - ID#53222

Random photos

I have my first of three finals this morning... Wish me luck! Here are some pix from the last few days. Sunshine!

Permalink: Random_photos.html
Words: 26
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/08/10 07:54

Category: home

12/01/10 05:30 - 33.ºF - ID#53188

Excellent summary video

... of issues with natural gas drilling. It was shot mostly in Bradford County, Pa., the county east of Tioga and does a nice job of capturing how beautiful it is there. 14 minutes.

Oh, and the guy who sold his natural gas drilling company, East Resources to Shell for $4.7B wants to buy the Sabres, after he gave Penn State $88M to build an arena for their to-be-developed Div.I hockey team. East/Shell owns most of the gas rights in Tioga County.

Permalink: Excellent_summary_video.html
Words: 100
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 12/01/10 05:34

Category: school

11/30/10 10:11 - 55.ºF - ID#53183

in class today...

I brought up an article I read this week about Tea Party members being against sustainable development efforts, or most zoning in general, that they think it's to create "human habitation zones" and it's a UN plot.

Later, someone else brought up about the new food safety bill that passed today and he thought it was a good thing because of the salmonella and e-coli breakouts in peanut butter and cilantro and whatever.

The bill gives the FDA more power over food inspections.

A classmate got REALLY upset and ranted about the FDA doing more harm than it's ever done good, citing an example of the FDA raiding a raw food coop in California

and you know, people have died waiting for drug trials. She then essentially said I was calling the Tea Party people crazy and that they just want smaller government and government is so bad, and then quoted Glen Beck to support her argument.

blink*

Do people really believe that the FDA is bad? I'm not very interested in the topic outside of appreciating that they do recall drugs that kill you or make you fly airplanes into houses on suicide missions. In general, it feels like a "too little too late" kind of agency.

The prof was very very diplomatic in calming the ruffled feathers.

jason writes at 06:42:36 12/01/10 - Comment #59507: Ok, sorry for the MJ rant. I'll just drop it as it isn't pertinent to your post. I'm honestly sorry for that, even if I really do hate them.

Appeal to authority is always a logical fallacy, regardless of whether it is Glenn Beck, Noam Chomsky, the Cookie Monster, or whoever else. Your classmate made a bad argument worse (Died waiting for drug trials? Ridiculous, and comparable to people claiming if only GWB weren't President, Michael J. Fox would be cured).

I, for one, am thankful that the FDA exists. I'm glad I have clean water and safe food. I can go through life and feel satisfied, without having ever eaten unpasteurized Brie. That's an agency I like in general.

jason writes at 05:32:24 12/01/10 - Comment #59505: A Tea Partier wrote an analysis of Agenda 21, and came up with some reasons they find it objectionable. I talk with Tea Party types every day, unlike their critics, and this is the first time I've even heard of this so called issue. The part of MJ's article I find suspicious is the idea that it constitutes some kind of "threat". Against what?

It is reminiscent of another bullshit "threat" Mother Jones wrote about earlier this year - the idea that soldiers are lining up to wage war against the Obama administration.

The cover had a mean-looking soldier, with AGE OF TREASON next to him. He's not alone! Watch out! But what did the STORY say? It was about the Oath Keepers, another thing MJ said was a "big deal" among people they don't understand or communicate with. The story was meant to scare gullible progressives into thinking that there was violence afoot, and the cover was meant to blur the distinction between regular American soldiers and the Oath Keepers.

Not only were they dead wrong on the threat and the importance of Oath Keepers to hard core conservatives, the only violence from soldiers was at Fort Hood, the kind of violence Mother Jones types want to pretend isn't a threat.

So, yes. I advise you guys take anything Mother Jones says about people they hate with two giant, heaping spoonfuls of salt.

heidi writes at 04:28:28 12/01/10 - Comment #59502: Um... sure (e:jason), here's what the Tea Party is saying: :::link::: or :::link:::

(e:jbeatty) - I thought her argument was stuipd, too. And you're right... I don't think I really meant that the FDA is too little, too late. Thanks for your input.

jason writes at 03:26:42 12/01/10 - Comment #59501: I would take anything Mother Jones says about Tea Party members with giant scoops full of salt.

jbeatty writes at 10:05:01 12/01/10 - Comment #59500: What bothers me about people who want smaller government at all costs is the elimination of agencies like the FDA. I can't comment on the food inspection side of things because I have no familiarity on the subject. I am however a drug manufacturer. I'm regulated on a daily basis by the USP and FDA on how I compound drugs. I don't see them as a "too little too late" sort of agency. They are very proactive about making sure the drugs you get are safe and efficacious. I have drugs fail quality control on a monthly basis. Believe me it would be much more cost effective to release a drug that didn't meet strict guidelines than it would be to re-synthesize them. Your classmates argument that "people have died waiting for drug trials" is quite frankly stupid. Drug trials take a long time for a reason. The last thing anyone wants to see happen is another thalidomide being approved.

tinypliny writes at 10:40:43 11/30/10 - Comment #59494: I don't think the FDA is bad, in general. It has several merits as a regulating authority. (Seriously, raw milk enthusiasts need to get most of their facts straight and look at food poisoning statistics in less fortunate countries around the world before crying blue murder.)

However, the FDA is only as good as the people who run its offices. If they are non-scientifically inclined, then decisions that pass through them are bound to be stilted and ridiculous. What it probably needs is a rotating non-biased external scientific advisory expert body/panel that assesses key issues before major decisions are set in motion.

Permalink: in_class_today_.html
Words: 241
Location: Buffalo, NY
Last Modified: 11/30/10 10:11

Category: comedy

11/30/10 06:14 - 53.ºF - ID#53180

Dykes of Hazard: It's not easy being white

I was at this show and I'm in class at the moment, but this tune was freakin' hysterical live. so hopefully it comes across just as awesome on vid:

I think too few people in my facebook friends list would get this - thanks, (e:peeps)!