DISQUS

Walking tours are cheap! And self guided ones even more so. There's a book called "Walking Brooklyn" that has 30 hikes through different sections of the borough. I've done several of them, and most were great. (One was a bust, involving Fort Hamilton: you can't get in, and that decimated half the hike and it was too much to ask the remaining part, Bensonhurst, to pick up the slack.) But I highly recommend the book.

Another advantage to these headphones is that their sound doesn't leak - - so you're being very kind to fellow subway riders.

Like sdbobbyt I also encountered the issue with the foam wearing out. But the replacement foam set is more than just one set.

I am, however, about to get my third pair; my satchel fell to the floor, and the plastic snapped. That having been said, I'm still getting them.

Ah, it's about time for the annual release. If past years are any judge, people will again take up this red state-blue state split, and not realize how badly flawed the Generosity Index is! It extrapolates from the few who itemize charitable deductions to entire states, and because it's based on comparisons of rank data, it's easier for a poor state to do well than a rich state. (People in the richest state could give everything they have away, everything, and not have a higher rank in giving than in earning - - and those in the poorest state could donate nothing, and they would have the same rank in the Generosity Index.)