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The Diamondback

This is the second one I made, the first one is ugly as hell.

#tf2 #props #tf2prop #tf2 cosplay #diamondback #the diamondback #tf2 diamondback #Team Fortress 2 #team fortress cosplay #cosplay #cosplay prop #gun #revolver #craft #art

"A Notice to All White Americans: It is your civic duty to report any and all illegal aliens to U.S. immigration and customs enforcement. They are criminals. America is a white nation." - A University of Maryland professor reported seeing white nationalist posters, like the one pictured above, in the Chemistry Building, March 12, 2017. Photo credit: Osvaldo Gutierrez

#university of maryland #the diamondback #racism #immigration

I originally posted this on my personal WordPress blog on Oct. 9, 2018, after my submission of this article to The Diamondback was rejected.

A post that was originally meant to be an article in The Diamondback about UMD's reliance on Accuweather to give tornado warnings, despite the fact that the company's CEO is very reactionary.

#the diamondback #umd #college park md #college park #tornado warnings #privatization #wordpress #internet archive

I originally posted this on my personal WordPress blog on Feb. 15, 2019, focusing on the housing situation in College Park, noting an articl

An article I wrote in February 2019 about the terrible housing situation in College Park, Maryland.

#housing #college park md #college park #maryland #the diamondback #wordpress #internet archive

The Diamondback and the College Park housing dilemma

As you may or may not know, I was recently quoted in the student newspaper of University of Maryland, The Diamondback, as shown above. I recommend you read Samantha Subin's interesting article as it shows I am not the only one with concerns about the lack of affordable housing in the College Park area while luxury housing that no one can afford is built instead! Some on Twitter have scowled at the article, calling it "extremely misleading" or acting like they are unpaid boosters for The Varsity/University View, claiming there is magical "affordable housing," it's just that you "have to look."

Reprinted from my History Hermann WordPress blog and Wayback Machine. Originally published on February 15, 2019.

As it usually goes in journalism, Ms. Subin only took one of my quotes from what I had sent her through Twitter DMs, but it was still powerful:

Burkely Hermann, a 25-year-old College Park resident, said housing in the area shouldn’t exceed $1,500 a month.“Places like Alloy should stop treating students as literal cash cows,” Hermann said. “They are clearly not full of money, but are heavily in debt.”

As you probably know from reading this blog, I said a LOT MORE than this. As such, this article reprints what I sent her, while protecting my own privacy.

The conversation with Ms. Subin was prefaced by her tweet on February 7th asking "A new apartment complex is opening in College Park this spring. If you live in the area or attend UMD, The Diamondback wants to hear your thoughts! DM me" to which I replied "You mean the really expensive one near U Club? Or is there another one?"

From there, the DM'ing was on. She first asked about my thoughts on the Alloy by Alta apartment complex in Berwyn, to which I responded

Sure. I have thoughts about it. My thoughts are that it is too expensive for the students that go to UMD and that there should be more affordable housing. I also think the OCH database should prohibit rental prices above $1500 a month, at minimum, if not lower (maybe as low as $1000). Places like the Alloy should stop treating students as literal cash cows as they are clearly not full of money but are heavily in debt as shown by the ever-expanding student loan debt. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask them.

So, the part of Subin's article when she took the quote about tweeting students as "literal cash cows" is from the beginning of the conversation, but I didn't exactly say that "housing in the area shouldn’t exceed $1,500 a month" but rather that $1500 should be the utmost limit for entries on the OCH (Off-Campus Housing) Database, with the lowest limit being $1000. I say that because I remember seeing some apartments on there which were over $2,000 a month. Current searching on the OCH database you find 10 entries charging over $4,000 a month, 24 entries charging $3,000-$3,999 a month, 35 entries charging $2,000-$2,999 a month, and 34 entries charging $1500-1999 a month, if charged per unit.

Subin followed up by asking for one if there were any benefits of Alloy by Alta for the graduate community, clarifying if I was a College Park resident. I responded by telling her that while in theory it "will provide residency for college park residents, in reality it will be too expensive for people to afford" and clarifying I am a resident, while also adding that:

...while casually observing the construction of this apartment for months as walking by it, there is no doubt in my mind that the Spanish-speaking workers building it would not be able to afford living there. As such Alloy by Alta is not only an insult to UMD students but also an insult to the working class that worked on building the structure (and grounds around it) as well.

I would have been nice to have at least part of this in the article, but perhaps it was too far along at that point. I also told Ms. Subin, after she asked how long I lived in the College Park area, that I had lived there since August 2018, since "last fall was first semester as a grad student" and...that was the last I heard from her.

I thought it would just be best to put all this out there, as I don't mind speaking out on issues like this. While this post is not the same as other posts on here, I think it deserves a space as well.

#the diamondback #college park #housing #alloy #student debt #capitalist vultures #umd

UMD, the tornado warning, and the privatization of weather prediction

Front of the Diamondback in 2001. Courtesy of the UMD Archives.

On September 17th, sirens rang across the UMD College Park campus, with the issuing of a tornado warning by University of Maryland Police Department (UMPD) through an email alert and some students, like myself, being herded to the bottom of buildings like the Hornbake Library, as a result. As it would turn out, this warning was issued based on information from a private weather company, Accuweather. This led to stories in the Baltimore Sun, ABC 7, and Patch, coupled with comments from the UMD community, varied meteorologists and reporters. The rationale behind the UMPD issuing this tornado warning is understandable. In 2001, there was a tornado on campus which killed two female students, and seven years ago there was a similar case to what is happening now. While recognizing this history, one question which arises: should UMD be relying on a private company to issue weather alerts?

Reprinted from my History Hermann WordPress blog and Wayback Machine. Originally published on October 9, 2018.

While it is good to rely on multiple sources of information it is a step too far to choose a private source over a public source. As the UMPD stated in a press release on September 17th, “in the interest of public safety, the University of Maryland Police Department contracts with AccuWeather to receive real-time information on storm paths approaching the footprint of our campus community,” which sounds like UMD is outsourcing its weather warnings to a private company. Some may say that such a state of affairs is fine because Accuweather may have better information. While meteorology is not a perfect science, Accuweather is concerned about its bottom line and its shareholders, while public institutions like NWS are accountable and answerable to the public, but an institution like Accuweather is not in the slightest.

The company has engaged in despicable practices in the past. This includes putting out a false tsunami warning earlier this year, then blaming the NWS for “giving them” the information, and slamming the NWS three years before that for not covering a tornado which hit Moore, Oklahoma, even though they didn’t cover the tornado either! They also continue to employ predictive analysis, which includes long-day predictions of 45-90 days which are broadly inaccurate. The company also has violated people’s privacy, by their mobile app storing and sharing a user’s location even when they opted out, something that the company claims it has fixed after such privacy concerns.

There is a more nefarious element to Accuweather and other private weather companies: they are part of an effort to privatize weather prediction in the United States. In 2005, then-Representative Rick Santorum, of Pennsylvania, proposed a bill which would have prohibited “federal meteorologists from competing with companies...which offer their own forecasts through paid services and free ad-supported Web sites.” While this effective privatization of weather prediction failed, the bill’s goal is something that private weather companies want.

Accuweather’s CEO, Barry Myers, brother of company’s founder (Joel), is a problematic figure. Putting aside that he is a lawyer by trade, he (and the company itself) said that Hurricane Florence wasn't that bad, despite the fact that 44 people have died, along with the death of 3.4 million poultry and over 5,000 hogs in North Carolina alone. Myers is a big political contributor, not only to Republicans, like Mitt Romney, but to Democrats like Hillary Clinton.

In October 2017, the current U.S. president nominated Myers to head NOAA, at a time that his administration proposed “cutting the NOAA budget by 17 percent.” Currently, Myers’ nomination is pending before the U.S. Senate, meaning that privatization of weather prediction will be up for a vote in this legislative body.

As a first step, the campus community and other concerned citizens should push UMPD to cancel their contract with Accuweather to receive “real-time information on storm paths” and push it to use information from public institutions like NWS to issue weather warnings or gain information on the paths of storms. The flagship educational institution of Maryland should be doing all it can to keep the campus community safe, using information from public institutions, rather than private ones.

This was originally slated to be published in the Diamondback but they never responded to me, and then I sent it to the Baltimore Sun on October 3rd as an op-ed with Tricia Bishop, the Deputy Editorial Page Editor, telling me "Thank you for the submission, but we’re going to respectfully decline to run it." As such, it has been published here. Due to those denials, it likely will not reach the audience I originally intended, but I'm not completely sure what to do about that. I delayed the publishing of this article in hopes that my letter to the editor is published.

#the diamondback #umd #college park #weather prediction #privatization #baltimore sun #meteorology #accuweather

Scenic Motorcycle Rides Near Me

The Diamondback is one of the Scenic Motorcycle Rides Near Me and can be done in one day from my store. Diamondback is located in the area of Little Switzerland and the Blue Ridge Parkway about 50 miles north of Asheville, North Carolina. This 38 mile diamond shaped loop includes NC 226A, US 221, Toms Creek Road, NC 80 and the Blue Ridge Parkway. It begins right at the Switzerland Inn as NC 226A. The first few miles are the steepest and tightest. We experienced a few curves with gravel and they was seal coating the cracks in the road. Also read more on the Diamondback here.

NC 80, known to some as The Devil’s Whip. There are some good curves, but there are also residences. Not a good place to speed. The speed limit here is 45 and we had some people pull out in front of us. Also beware of School Buses if your over there on a weekday. There is a lot of great scenery in this area and wonderful roads to ride on. Skyline Village Inn Motorcycle Friendly On this trip we stayed at the Skyline Village Inn. This Inn has a great history and back in the day had a moonshine still in a tunnel under the parking lot. Great views sitting on the upper level. There is a big carport in back to park your motorcycles under if it rains also. They have a package store on site and they even took our beverages up and put them in our room in the fridge for us. This picture is from across the road looking off the mountain. Same view from our room.

Spruce Pine N.C. Let me tell you about the Tropical Grille. The Tropical Grill is here to give you an unexpected dining experience. We took 226 under the Blue Ridge Parkway into Spruce Pine then went to"Upper Street" in downtown Spruce Pine. Easy to find they offer Tropical Dishes from around the world. Dishes from Guatemala, Colombia, Cuba, the Caribbean, Asia and of course all your favorite Country Style American Home Cooking. I love sitting there breathing the fresh mountain air and eating great food. Take a walk and enjoy the little town. Also don't forget to support small business. There is a beautiful painting on one of the walls there in town and even a train depot. Best part its only 5 miles from the Skyline Village Inn.

If your ever in North Carolina on the Blue Ridge Parkway or in Eastern Tennessee on the motorcycle. Take time to ride this route it don't take long and its an enjoyable ride. This is just one of many Scenic Motorcycle Rides Near Me. Click to Post

#Beautiful Motorcycle rides #Little Switzerland North Carolina #Motorcycle Destinations #Motorcycle routes #The Diamondback

It’s an arc that began back in February with “Where Are Ü Now,” the crown jewel of Skrillex and Diplo’s Jack Ü project. Leave it to Bieber to board his own train to forgiveness with two more of the music industry’s most unsavory characters. One’s the producer who’d spent most of the decade bridging the musical divide between fauxhawked, neon-clad Electric Zoo attendees and your misfit high-school acquaintances who’ve since gotten really into vaping. The other named his son “Lazer.”

Matt Schnabel on Justin Bieber’s Purpose in The Diamondback

#justin bieber #purpose #review #the diamondback