Friday Afternoon Media Brigade...

WEATHER
I swear it wasn't a depression induced bender that kept me away for the past week... It has been a blend of needing to change pace and having been a little under the weather, which given the current conditions here in Madison isn't a difficult position to be in.

Madison is only 2.4 inches away from setting a new snowfall record, with the total for the season now at 73.8 inches, just short of the 76.1 inches that fell during the winter of 1978-79.

If we don't break the record today or this weekend, the record will tumble come Monday. "It's a done deal Monday," Olson said. And, it'll give today's Madisonians something to hang their knit cap on in any discussions of bad winters. "The old-timers won't be able to say it used to be like this because it has never been like this," Olson said.

This will definately help me when the natives tell me "you haven't seen anything yet Hoosier boy... Back in the day it used to be {fill in crazy ass story line here}."

SPORTS
Speaking of taking crap for being a Hoosier, I went to the Badgers-Hoosiers Matchup at the Kohl Center last week and was thoroughly embarassed... Looks like I can get revenge by watching the matchup at Indiana live at the Kohl Center on the jumbo TV's -- I doubt I will take part in this attempt by the UW Athletic Department to ease tensions with the fans over the Big Ten Network. In other news Bobby Knight retired from Texas Tech and can now can hopefully leave the public stage on which he has successfully humiliated himself out of what could have been a commendable career focused on making players better men... but alas, if that happened it was a side note because with Knight... It was always about Bobby!

LOCAL NEWS
The local news cycle has been dominated by the weather (see above) and the upcoming primary (see below), so I'm offering a wonderful little story that is sure to rouse your curiousity on a Friday afternoon at your desk.

What would the world do without potatoes?
The Irish found out during a famine, and it was not a pretty picture.
But the U.S. Potato Genebank in rural Wisconsin is playing a major role in preventing a repeat of that tragedy.
The potato is one of the most vital crops in the world for feeding the poor, evidenced by the United Nations' declaration that 2008 is the Year of the Potato. But this versatile vegetable is susceptible to many pests, diseases, environmental stresses and quality problems.
So if the most widespread varieties were stricken with blight as deadly as the one that struck Ireland in 1845, what would the world do?
One place it would turn would be the genebank near Sturgeon Bay that has stored the genetic materials for hundreds of types of potatoes -- including the wild varieties that might save us in case of a worldwide catastrophe.

Take that Idaho! We got all we need right here in Wisco!

NATIONAL NEWS
The Democratic primary season has heated up. The race in Wisconsin on the 19th is heating up. I may volunteer for my candidate, but I doubt it since it is very cold. I anticipate Obama winning this thing, but that is a complete from the gut guess. He will face the "maverick" McCain... who gets to keep apologizing to conservatives for not being a complete nut job. Oh well, the general will surely be interesting now, with a potentially disenfranchised hardline evangelical voter base being an important obstacle for Mr. McCain to overcome. Of course, the states were he will lose most of these voters won't be in play if Hillary is his opponent anyway, so if you want a hotly contested race in 30-40 states.. have the audacity to hope for an Obama upset.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
According to the NYT, Annan is seeing progress towards a political solution in a very disrupted Kenya. This is a very important issue to East African / Middle East stability, but it appears to be calming down. For those who like to trump up the "identity politics as horrible blight" on our electoral system, I would recommend keeping it all in context:

The election controversy has stirred up deep-seated grievances over political, economic and land issues, pitting opposition supporters against members of the president’s ethnic group and groups perceived to support the government. Many people in Kenya tend to vote along ethnic lines, and much of the post-election bloodshed seems to have been ethnically driven, though many participants insist their motives are political.

Stability has it's value and I can honestly say American identity politics seem to be more about politics generally than they are focused on gender, race or ethnicity.

Somehow, I'm neither suprised nor saddened to see more criticism of biofuels recently. It has been reported numerous times that biofuels have a worse impact on the environment than even conventional fuels, and today's NYT has a nice article on the subject. Not suprisingly, many governments, farmers and industry lobbyists are quickly trying to debunk the findings that the environmental opportunity costs of additional land being cultivated is too high for the marginal return from the biofuel production:

Industry groups, like the Renewable Fuels Association, immediately attacked the new studies as “simplistic,” failing “to put the issue into context.”
“While it is important to analyze the climate change consequences of differing energy strategies, we must all remember where we are today, how world demand for liquid fuels is growing, and what the realistic alternatives are to meet those growing demands,” said Bob Dineen, the group’s director, in a statement following the Science reports’ release.

I am waiting on the American people to start getting angry that their Doritos, milk and beef costs too much and realize that along with the high gas prices, ethanol is a driver in the inflationary pressure being put on all farm commodities.

LEISURE
Beer is good. I really enjoy a solid Pale Ale. I recently was able to try the Capital Brewery's (based in Middleton, Wisco) Pale Ale and came away a bit unimpressed. The hoppiness and bitterness meld well on the front side, but the finish just isn't quite right and definately not as robust as I prefer. This could have been influenced by my previous six pack (not on the same day) being the irrefutably delicious Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA. There are few beers in the world that are more enoyable than the 90 Minute, but since I'm not rich the 60 does one hell of an impersonation of an A+ beer.