I really only have one thought about Syracuse China closing (my grandfather worked there until the late ’60s): We’re running out of things to be taken away from us. Pretty soon we’re going to reach a point where there is nothing else they can close and no more jobs to take away. […]

This item in today’s New York Times has NYC’s power brokers wondering why there are more “leaders” who have less ability to get things done.
Power broker, a title attributed to Theodore H. White, chronicler of presidential campaigns, had been replaced by what he dubbed “constellations of satrapies” — shifting coalitions dependent on process brokers skilled […]

You know us ugly Americans — we’re so centered on our own problems that few of us have noticed that there is weird stuff going down in Ottawa.
In Java, Literally asks: What’s going on, eh?
See also Phil’s take at Still Racing in the Street.
Alan Gen X at 40 is providing […]

The economy. Plant closings and job losses are some of the bigger signs that all is not well, but what about the little signs?

Saturday post-Black Friday shopping: A normal, slightly busy day. Hardly anyone was in Target, but you couldn’t get near the registers at Michael’s. (Are people making Christmas gifts […]

This lengthy but very readable article presents a comparison of two empires collapsing: the Soviet Union and the United States of America.
The Soviet Union achieved a higher level of collapse-preparedness through sheer negligence and poor economic performance. So can we, if we (don’t) try.
Which of these two reminds you most of CNY […]

A reminder: Sean Cunningham’s award-winning Upstate-themed “I Love New York” commercial (shot right here in CNY) will be featured during the broadcast of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade tomorrow.
The Oneida Nation also will be having a float in the parade.
Have a wonderful and safe holiday! Thank you all for reading.

Burgh Diaspora suggests that Upstate urban boosters should focus their energies on Buffalo’s cause (or at least devote some time to it).
What do you think? Is there any evidence that Buffalo is going to experience meaningful economic growth soon, and what can Syracusans do to help? (Personally, I am still evaluating the Atlantica […]

The Post-Standard writes on the fate of the run-down Blodgett School on the West Side. My mom tells me that her aunt (who was only just a few years older than her) went to Blodgett School in the early ’50s or so, when it was even back then deemed a “scary old” school “full […]

I don’t intend for this to become a transportation blog, but seriously, even such a modest uptick in commercial shipping on the Erie Canal becomes vastly more interesting when you throw Oswego’s future container port into the mix, and then Fault Lines adds Griffiss Park to the vision:
Griffiss IS a port, with the potential to […]

This relatively brief story in the NYT about the uptick in commercial shipping on ye olde Erie has aroused a good deal of interest around the blogosphere. You can see some blogger reactions listed here, with a particularly informative post here. It’s part of a realization that you don’t necessarily need to […]