[y66]

Omar turned up on Matt Yglesias' blog today in a warning to Democrats who may be second guessing their position on health care reform:

You come at the king, you best not miss

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If you don’t pass the bill, you’ve made your opponent’s case for you. Which might not be so bad except you already voted for the bill. Once you vote for something, you’ve got to try to pass it. Omar says that if you come at the king, you’d best not miss. They’re wise words. Otherwise people are going to spend the fall talking about how they actually voted for health reform before they voted against it.

Lesson here Dems? Mos' def.

[y66]

Where are they now?

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“You got to think about what we got in this game for,” Stringer once admonished a colleague, his soft, deep voice studded with emphatic profanity (here deleted): “Was it the rep? Was it so our names could ring out on some ghetto street corner? Naw, man. There’s games beyond the game.”

From A ‘Wire’ Star Redirects His Electricity

[Al_U_Card]

"Treme" is David's latest effort. Post-Katrina N.-O. Includes a couple of Wire cast members to boot.

[y66]

We just finished watching the last episode of season 3. I don't see how you can top this season.

[JLOGIC]

y66, on Sep 12 2010, 08:16 PM, said:

We just finished watching the last episode of season 3. I don't see how you can top this season.

Haha, man most hardcore wire fans put 4 higher than 3 ime. Personally I prefer 3 but you will be really happy with 4 trust me.

This show is just incredible though and seasons 3 and 4 are still easily the best TV ever to me.

Season 1 was awesome too but of course part of the greatness of the wire is how the build upon previous things that have happened and reference them, and of course season 1 didn't have nearly as much of that since it was the first, but I am still very fond of 1.

My personal rankings are 3>4>1>5>2.

Maybe I prefer 3 the most because I am so fond of Brotha Mouzone, what a freaking character.

[JLOGIC]

Meh thinking back 2 is probably better than 5. I didn't appreciate 2 as much the first time I watched the show.

3, 4, 1 are definitely better than 2 and 5 though, and 4 is generally considered the best by most people so have fun

[Elianna]

I guess I go with the multitude. My ordering is 4>3>1>2>>5. I think that it's very close between the first four seasons, especially 1 and 3.

5 is still worth it, though. Just because it's may be the worst season of the show, it's still better than most other things out there.

[cherdanno]

Elianna's order sounds right.
It's curious that the media part, i.e. the part with which the author is the most familiar, is (IMO) the weakest part of the story. But yes season 5 still beats any other TV show.

[Mbodell]

I think I go:

4>3>1>>5>2

I'm torn on season 5 as it definitely had a lot of new characters that I don't care about as much (in the newsroom) and too much focus on that, but I found the ability of season 5 to wrap up the series in a way that really fit the whole show for me.

[JLOGIC]

cherdanno, on Sep 13 2010, 06:56 PM, said:

Elianna's order sounds right.
It's curious that the media part, i.e. the part with which the author is the most familiar, is (IMO) the weakest part of the story. But yes season 5 still beats any other TV show.

Season 5 was rushed, it was supposed to be 13 episodes and they cut it to 10. Standard TV network BS.

[Rodney26]

The series has been On Demand for the last few months so I have watched through it again. I also liked season 3 the best and am happy others think so. Season 1 was not as good as I had remembered; season 2 on the other hand was much better.

Season 4 is funny. So many of the best original characters are either gone or barely in the storyline. Then those last two episodes bring everything together and you realize just how superlative it was.

It is by far the best show I have ever watched. Second place is miles away.

[JLOGIC]

If breaking bad is epic next season it will move up to #2 behind the wire imo

[1eyedjack]

Rodney26, on Sep 15 2010, 08:39 PM, said:

Season 1 was not as good as I had remembered

That slightly surprised me. I was thinking of watching it all again, and had high hopes that I would enjoy season 1 more, since first time around it took me about 5 episodes before I could understand a word that anyone was saying.

[benlessard]

Ouch ive completly miss this thread

Ive watched the whole series 3 times (except the 5th only twice) and my fav is 3,2, 1 and 4 tie, and 5 is last. The 2nd season really become better after a rewatch since its how hard working mens with good intentions get into the criminals worlds, so its a bit slower and less direct than the others seasons (maybe season 2 is the casue of low ratings for the entire series), after rewatching season 2 its simply impossible not to rewatch s03 wich is clearly the best television series I know.

I still dont understand why its not in Bluray...

[y66]

From A Mission to Transform Baltimore’s Beaten Schools By SABRINA TAVERNISE

BALTIMORE — For years, this city had one of the worst school systems in the country. Fewer than half its students graduated, enrollment had fallen precipitously and proficiency levels were far below the national average.

In 2007, the school board hired Andres Alonso, a Cuban immigrant with a Harvard degree and strong views on how to change things. In three years, he pushed through a sweeping reorganization of the school system, closing failing schools, slashing the central office staff by a third and replacing three-quarters of all school principals.

Not everyone likes Dr. Alonso’s methods, and many find that his brassy self-confidence can grate. But few are arguing with his results. Since he was hired, the dropout rate has fallen by half, more students are graduating and for the first time in many years, the system has gained students instead of losing them.

More...

[y66]

Good story here about how one enlightened local government is dealing with drug related health problems.

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Insite, situated on the worst block of an area once home to the fastest-growing AIDS epidemic in North America, is one reason Vancouver is succeeding in lowering new AIDS infection rates while many other cities are only getting worse.

By offering clean needles and aggressively testing and treating those who may be infected with H.I.V., Vancouver is offering proof that an idea that was once controversial actually works: Widespread treatment, while expensive, protects not just individuals but the whole community.

[y66]

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Look man, we'd probably most of agree that these are dark times and stupid ones, but do we need fiction that does nothing but dramatize how dark and stupid everything is? In dark times, the definition of good art would seem to be art that locates and applies CPR to those elements of what's human and magical that still live and glow despite the times' darkness.

Just read this in Conversations With David Foster Wallace. I think the guy must have been a fan.