What is Labor Day?
Enjoying your day off and the end of summer but have no idea why?
Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. [Source].
Bank error in my favor, for a day
On Tuesday, I logged into my bank account to find $6,000 had appeared – more money than I ever had in a savings or checking account. While I hoped I had forgotten about some windfall coming my way, I knew I was part of a rare bank error, that just happened to be in my favor. By yesterday evening, the money was gone again – a “retrieval withdrawal.” It isn’t all that uncommon, according to an article on Bankrate.com.
Despite the overwhelming justification for why the universe owes you this money, it’s as untouchable as a spanking-new sports car with the keys in the ignition and the doors wide open. Give in to temptation and you could find yourself going straight to jail — or at least being threatened with jail if you don’t want to part with the ill-gotten gains.
Though I honestly thought – for a moment – about trying to make a large, cash withdrawal, I decided the more sensible irrational move would be to go to my bank and explain. I had time for neither and in 24 hours the situation was solved. Had I I tried for the greedier move, the results could have gotten sticky, according to the same article.
My Pennsylvania State Capital To-do List: what you have to do in Harrisburg
Today is my last day in Harrisburg.
A buddy and I are packing up my life from a summer-long post-graduate internship covering state government in Pennsylvania’s capitol. After visiting the 30th annual Pennsylvania Chili cook off here in Harrisburg who knows when I’ll be back.
So, here’s my Harrisburg to-do list and how I fared this summer.
Continue reading My Pennsylvania State Capital To-do List: what you have to do in Harrisburg
The new Facebook sucks
I am new to Facebook – though I have gotten on my hustle to maximize readership output from it.
At the end of July, the social networking giant announced a new version they were rolling out. Since joining, I ignored the offer to voluntarily take it on – having found to like Facebook and heard rumors of the its next model falling short.
Well, on Wednesday night the trial ended, and I got the new version. Oh, the rumors are right – the new Facebook sucks. The social utility gets criticized all the time, for things like restricting user freedom, having once-revolutionary but now outdated news feeds, and its spam-like applications. Now it seems to have taken a step backwards.
KYW: My radio report on State Attorney General contender's criticism
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KYW News radio Harrisburg bureau chief Tony Romeo kindly agreed to show me the rough ropes of radio reporting and production on Monday. Below hear my report – with his lede – and the script – with much credit to Tony.
[audio:http://christopherwink.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Morganelli-Wink.mp3]The Democratic candidate for Attorney General today challenged the way his incumbent opponent has handled the so-called “Bonusgate” investigation of the Pennsylvania legislature. Christopher Wink reports…
Continue reading KYW: My radio report on State Attorney General contender's criticism
The Civil War is in my Capitol
Trying to work near the Harrisburg Capitol’s Main Rotunda around lunch time on a Wednesday in Summer? Do you hear the simmer of a patriotic song or the baleful cries of a country in turmoil!
Of course you do, because the Pennsylvania State Museum dispatches their Pennsylvania Past Players from the Civil War to the Capitol every Wednesday from noon to 1 P.M. from June 18 until Sept. 10.
Assuming you’re missing their show today, looks like you have just two more chances to see the group interact with children, parents and grandmothers, all wearing their respective central Pennsylvania uniforms – cameras dangling, sweaty Penn State football tee-shirts and style from 1992.
…Yes, I just criticized someone’s style.
Best sports cities in the country
Looking for the best city to cheer for the blue team over the red team?
Forbes magazine begged for attention as it often does with a new list. This gets personal, ranking 29 sports metro areas in the country by winning percentages and ticket prices compared to cost of living.
What do sports fans spend the most time grousing about? Above all else, it’s lousy teams or high ticket prices.
Woe is the fan forced to put up with both at once. Who wants to pay premium prices to sit in the stands and watch the losses mount? Fans in Miami know about that. Over the past year, the city’s four major sports teams–the Dolphins, Marlins, Heat and Panthers–have combined to win just 40% of their games while fans have forked over money for tickets and accouterments at the seventh-highest rate among 29 major sports metros.
As the Inquirer points out today, Philadelphia was neither among the 10 worst nor the three best – no others were ranked.
There's a baby with beer on my news story
A photo of an infant clutching a beer is currently paired with a story of mine on Google News, as seen above.
Google’s news aggregation tool couples top ranked news stories with photos from related stories that are similarly rated. So, while my story on college presidents calling for a dialogue on underage drinking ran with the Patriot-News, at a particular moment, the top rated photo came from the story covered by eCanadaNow, which chose its image to be one of a sleeping baby holding onto a bottle of Miller Genuine Draft, at right.
That can’t be great for my professional product, eh?
Still, these pairings change continuously, so we can hope it won’t last long.
Hey, you looked bored, check out an array of photos with children comically – read: irresponsibly – placed with alcohol.
Patriot-News: Brief on drinking age discussion
This brief ran online Thursday for the Patriot-News, prepping for yesterday’s front page story:
Some college presidents who recently asked for a national dialogue on the 21-year-old drinking age say the focus of their effort has been lost.
Some 123 university and college chief executives, including 15 in Pennsylvania, signed on to the Amethyst Initiative, a public statement urging a discussion since they say the 21-year-old drinking age is not working. But instead, much of the debate has turned to their suggestion that possibly the drinking age should be lowered… More.
See it on PennLive here.
Photo courtesy of 101.
