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Friday, May 02, 2003
Mr. Rogers , Bound for Hell
And apparently the whole frickin' Neighborhood. Dave Copeland has the details. even Rick Santorum doesn't meet the standards.
BCRA Heading to Round 2
The Bipartisan Capaign Reform Act was mostly defeated in a 2-1 vote by a special appeals panel which has been immediately appealed to the US Supreme Court. The decision, McConnell v. FEC, can be found here. Edward Still has posted a summary.
The initial coverage has bothered me as trying to starkly cast it as a strictly partisan battle.
"It breaks faith with the fundamental principle — understood by our nation's Founding Generation, inscribed in the First Amendment and repeatedly reaffirmed by the United States Supreme Court — that `debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust and wide-open,'" the Republican-appointed Henderson, who found virtually all major aspects of the law unconstitutional, wrote in a separate document explaining her approach to the ruling.
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"It's a huge victory for free speech," said Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, who supported less-restrictive legislation that would have limited soft money but not banned it. "We knew these parts just wouldn't be constitutional, no matter how you looked at it. The bans they put in there were nothing but incumbent-protection tools."
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The decision is at least a partial victory for the Republican National Committee and dozens of interest groups, who argued that the law would undermine their ability to participate in politics. It is at least a partial loss for the chief congressional sponsors of the campaign finance bill — Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Feingold — who fought for years to get new restrictions enacted. The two argued that it was time to end the corrupting influence of big money in politics.
The ruling came from a special fast-track panel of Henderson, District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly and District Judge Richard Leon, the other Republican appointee.
Buried further down in the article you find actually find a little more bipartisan opposition to the bill.
Dozens of groups joined their effort to overturn parts of the law, including the Republican National Committee, the Democratic and Republican parties of California, the AFL-CIO, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the AFL-CIO, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Libertarian National Committee, the National Right to Life Committee and the National Association of Broadcasters.
Still, I feel it fair to blame Republicans for passing this law. Since I feel almost the entire law to be unconstitutional on its face. when the President, a Republican, signs the bill and says he believes the bill contains, "serious constitutional concerns," under the oath he swears upon taking office, he has an obligation then, to veto the bill even in the face of an override vote.
This bill should never have been passed in the first place. It contains blatant violations of 1st Amendment rights of free speech. The cowardice of both major political parties to confront and address bills that clearly violate the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, and instead to seek political cover through Federal courts, is pathetic and a major reason why federal court appointments and confirmations have become the major politcal battleground.
Neither side can claim any moral high ground.
And This Is Surprising Because...
It seems that those ever increasing cigarette taxes are really starting to drive down consumption of cigarettes in the US (or more people are going through other channels to pay lower total costs). While this should be good news, in a case of cheap irony, many state budgets have become so addicted to both the tax revenue and the annual settlement payments from tobacco companies that their budgets are falling even shorter than expected.
Cash-strapped state governments have been using money from the Master Settlement Agreement to shore up their tattered budgets, funding programs from education to health care and selling bonds backed by the settlement funds.
"State and local governments have a clear incentive to keep the major tobacco manufacturers out of bankruptcy," said Triet Nguyen, president of credit research service Axios Advisors.
Nguyen said state finances are now "hopelessly intertwined" with tobacco companies' fortunes. What's more, he noted, the manufacturers that did not sign the settlement agreement have captured a far greater-than-expected share of the market.
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State governments, in fact, have become reliant on cigarette makers for revenue, analysts say, pointing to last month's nationwide brouhaha over Philip Morris' ability to come up with a $12 billion court-ordered bond required to protect its assets while appealing an Illinois lawsuit.
That whopping figure raised doubt that the cigarette maker, part of Altria Group Inc. MO.N , could make its scheduled $2.6 billion payment to states, or even avoid bankruptcy.
Tobacco bonds, the debt sold by states backed by money from the Master Settlement Agreement, tumbled. At worst, yields on some tobacco bonds pushed well above 8 percent.
Wall Street's leading credit houses immediately put the debt on their watch lists, saying the bonds could be cut to junk status. State attorneys general, the same group previously at odds with the industry over health care costs, rallied to support Philip Morris' motion for a lower appeal bond.
"That's a perfect indication of how states have become dependent on tobacco as a source of revenue," Atkins said.
States are looking at getting only around 85% of the payment they expected and the taxes aren't raising near the amounts expected. I just can't believe they can even pretend to be surprised. Keep raising the costs, and demand will go down. I expect that it won't be too much longer before the states start actively trying to protect the tobacco companies from civil lawsuits.
Thursday, May 01, 2003
Looks Like I Need to Add Another Book to My "To Read" List
I've been seeing reference to the book popping up throughout the blogosphere in the last few weeks. Now, even my favorite baseball columnist is mentioning it while defending the right of Todd Jones to be an ignorant ass. It is Free Speech for Me--but Not for Thee: How the American Left and Right Relentlessly Censor Each Other, by Nat Hentoff. Definitely go to the review page on B&N. It has an excerpt of reviews from both The Nation and National Review. Both praised it, but had complaints about ... well I'm guessing you may already have a pretty good idea.
Gaming the System
I have to hand it to the Tribune Company. It usually takes a little while to figure out a way to use new rules in creative ways and with unintended consequences. Two sets of new rulles converged wonderfully for one of the Tribune Company's major assets -- the Chicago Cubs.
The first was the change in Illinois law to allow for legalized scalping, reselling or also called ticket brokering -- companies that buy tickets at face value and then resell them at what is essentially the actual free market value. The Chicago Cubs cannot do this themselves. They are prohibited from selling at anything other than face value. The Tribune Company, however, could and did set up another company, Wrigley Field Premium Ticket Services (located on Clark Street, a block from Wrigley Field).
For the best ticket of the year--front row to a game against the New York Yankees--the Cubs printed $45 on the ticket, then sold it at that price to Premium. Sold it to themselves, really. That allowed them, under state scalping laws, to get the ticket onto the resale market, where the new price was $1,500.
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Never mind that Premium's president is a Cubs vice president; that Premium's office is on land owned by Tribune Co., which owns the Cubs; and that Premium's books are done by the Cubs' accounting department.
Now, here is the other change in rules. Major League Baseball's new revenue sharing agreement. Under the agreement, each team must turn over 30% of their ticket revenues to MLB which then splits it evenly amongst the teams. In the case of the $45 ticket resold for $1500 by the Tribune Co.'s own brokerage, the Cubs turn over only 30% of the face value of the ticket -- $13.50.
All of this, perfectly legal. Whoever figured this out at the Tribune Company deserves a huge bonus.
The Discussion Will Be Televised
In what will, hopefully, be the final need to mention the Bull Durham/Hall of Fame stupidity; Bob Costas will host the discussion of the movie on his HBO show, "On the Record." As an added bonus, no Kevin Costner. The discussion will be with Bull Durham stars Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Robert Wuhl and writer-director Ron Shelton. Costas had some comments on the stupid move by Petroskey.
Costas was asked whether there was any defense that could be mounted for Petroskey's decision to rescind the Hall's invitation to the makers of the movie.
"I couldn't possibly mount a defense for what Dale did in this instance," Costas said. "I think those who defend it on the basis of, 'Yeah, well, I don't like Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon,' they are unwittingly making the argument against their position. Since when do you start excluding people from talking about their work or doing their work because you disagree with them?
"If Charlton Heston were physically able, and he was to show up on a liberal campus, invited by the drama or film school to discuss his body of work, and because he is politically conservative the liberal head of the film school rescinded his invite, I would hope that people from all sides of the political spectrum would find that appalling. Just as they should find the Hall of Fame's decision in this case appalling."
It's a pretty good comparison.
Surprised it Took That Long
The Cincinnati college student who was arrested on a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge for daring to bother an off-duty cop, in uniform, to put down the chicken wings and investigate a shooting that had just occurred down the street had the charge dismissed.
It took a judge less than 30 seconds yesterday to throw out Cincinnati's disorderly conduct case against Andrew November, a college student who was hauled off to jail for reporting a sidewalk slaying.
"All right," Hamilton County Municipal Magistrate Ellen Wolf said, "it will be dismissed."
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City prosecutors did not present any evidence yesterday and wouldn't comment on the case.
Baxter, 36, a five-year Cincinnati police veteran, was reassigned while the incident is investigated. He could not be reached for comment.
Police officials did not return calls seeking comment.
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
Sadly True
I realize this post from Jane Galt has already linked by some of the heavy hitters in the blogosphere, but it is a really interesting, and in my view, accurate observation.
It had clearly never occurred to them to think about ways in which they could test their theory -- and in my days as a Lit major, it wouldn't have occurred to me to test my semantically interesting, but economically demonstrably false, theories either. They didn't attempt to refute anything I said, but sat there with a pitying, contemptuous look on their face, about the way I used to look at my parents when I was fourteen and they told me drinking was bad for me. They seemed to believe they had some sort of hidden knowlege that validated their beliefs in such a way as to render any empirical evidence moot.
It was strange. But not that strange. I've been an English major. And the unfortunate tendency for those who are verbally fluent and spend four years arguing their opinion through footnotes and elegant phrasing rather than data, is to believe that a nice turn of phrase is as important as hard data. It informs the glib politics of many in the academy who often seem to think that the amusing bon mots of a Doonesbury cartoon constitute serious policy thought. And the reaction I get when explaining, say, rent control -- that somehow I'm just being mean, and that if I wanted to, I could make it so that imposing rent control improved the housing stock rather than destroying it.
Go read it all.
Will Dad Make Him Run Stadium Steps?
The eldest son of Bobby "Aw, shucks, I'm just a good ole' born again guy that only cares about his boys, not winnin'" Bowden, Steve Bowden, has pled guilty to fraud. The scheme netted about $10 million, including $1.6 million from his dad. Geez, I don't remember this chapter in the The Bowden Way that he and daddy wrote.
More Cleveland Money Problems
The City of Cleveland, already facing a budget problem, finds that HUD wants almost $12 million dollars back after an audit of the way the city handled and distributed funds in the empowerment zone program.
In 1995, HUD earmarked $177 million for grants and low-interest loans to spur development in the Fairfax, Glenville and Hough neighborhoods and parts of Central and Goodrich-Kirtland.
Since then, Cleveland has made loans and grants of $71 million to create 700 jobs and retain 1,000 jobs, according to city officials. The empowerment zone program is due to expire in December 2005.
The audit, required by Congress, is one of seven being done across the country by HUD's inspector general. Audits in other cities have found problems similar to those cited in Cleveland.
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Among the findings:
Accomplishments were often overstated.
For example, the city reported in 2001 that the Center for Employment Training, created with empowerment zone money, had provided job training to 181 residents and placed 97 in jobs. Auditors found that 155 residents had been trained and that the city could not document how many had been placed in jobs.
Cleveland in some cases could not document whether money it lent was used to create jobs.
The city, for example, loaned $3 million to Midtown Associates for a corporate center but had no documents to show how residents were supposed to benefit, the audit found.
Cleveland spent more than $13 million on three projects that fell far short of goals.
Two of the projects - the Quincy Place office building and MidTown Technology Park - have not created or retained any jobs, the audit found. The third, Glenville Town Center shopping plaza, generated 44 jobs, but only 11 have gone to residents of the empowerment zone, according to the audit.
The three projects were supposed to create or retain more than 1,000 jobs.
The city spend money improperly in all projects reviewed.
For example, one requirement is that jobs moved into the zone must be replaced in the area they left. When Cuyahoga County relocated 48 jobs from Payne Avenue to Quincy Place, the jobs were not replaced, the audit said.
City officials disagreed in several cases with the auditors' interpretation of HUD regulations, saying the findings amounted to no more than "quibbles."
"There are no allegations of fraud or money disappearing," Baker said. "The auditors raised some very technical regulatory questions about what is required of empowerment zone projects."
Essentially, no noticable job growth has occurred in the neighborhoods where the money went, and the city calls them "quibbles" and "very technical regulatory questions."
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Scandal
This story has gotten practically no attention, but it should. An Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Aaron Phillips is going to to go to trial for accepting bribes in exchange for promising the criminals lighter sentences. He faces at least six count of bribery, but (and I love this) the lawyers for the former prosecutor argue that the charges should be theft because while he may have taken the money, he never fulfilled the promise of getting them lighter sentences.
The lawyers for Phillips also argue that he is a victim of a drug habit.
One of his lawyers, John Carson, said his client had gotten involved with drugs, which led to his downfall.
"He started running with the wrong crowd and telling people that he was a prosecutor and could do things to help them," Carson said.
[Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill] Mason said the case is disturbing because of the position of trust Phillips held. He said a strong-handed prosecution of Phillips would best deter others from similar crimes.
"Aaron failed as a professional. He failed to act as a prosecutor with morals," Mason said. "There's very little you can do when you have a law enforcement officer who decides to go to the dark side."
It's never a good sign when the defense attorneys aren't even trying to claim their client is innocent. Just that they should be lesser charges and that he has a drug problem.
Tuesday, April 29, 2003
Who are these people
And why do they keep buying the same album over and over?
The Monkees have yet another " Greatest Hits" album that was released today. By my count, that is the 8th greatest hits, boxed set or essential collection of the Monkees music to be released in the last 4 years.
I have nothing against the Monkees. I don't blame them for finding people dumb enough to shell out money for the same songs they must already have. I just don't understand.
Once Again My Inner Geek Exposed
 You are The Years of Pertwee. Sorry about that, would you like to try the quiz again?
Which Doctor Who Season Are You? brought to you by Quizilla
And here I was sure I would be a Tom Baker. Or at least Colin Baker (a very underrated Doctor). Via Maximum Verbosity
He Thought He Had A Role in Old School
I wonder if Larry "Party Guy" Eustachy's pathetic partying had come out when Old School was released would have helped or caused the movie to tank. I mean, what was amusing and silly in the movie looks extremely pathetic in this reality example. I am surprised, though, that I haven't found anyone else make this reference/comparison. It only came out a couple months ago.
The Des Moines Register, which broke the story and released the photos is editorializing for his termination.
As Jeff Utech notes, on top of all of this, Eustachy was drinking Natural Light. It could have been worse. He could have been drinking American or Golden Anniversy or even Little Kings.
What really bothers me, is Eustachy appears to be trying to claim to have an alcohol problem when he says "I am certainly aware of the role drinking has played in my behavior. I am addressing this matter."
Sorry, the guy could be a raging acoholic, but that doesn't explain the desire to go partying at other schools (following losses by his team) with kids the same age as those he coaches. Alcoholism wouldn't begin to justify this sort of activity. It suggests a disturbed, desperate and more than a little, pathetic man. I mean, this guy is 47 and he's crashing college house parties. Jeez, I'm 33 and I start to feel a little creepy if I'm at a bar and the average patron starts looking closer to 25 than 30.
I don't know if Iowa State fires him or not, but they sure can't trust him anymore.
Business not Bias
The Cleveland alt-weekly, Scene, is not a particularly good alt. It does have one writer who generally writes interesting pieces -- David W. Martin. His most recent piece was on the radio consultant who wrote the short manual on how to handle and cover the war in Iraq that got all the attention in March.
The manual is essentially a checklist. Most tips are pretty basic: Monitor the competition. Bump the gardening show when the fighting starts. Remind listeners what station they're listening to. In fact, the newsgathering suggestions are so obvious ("Dispatch reporters to military bases in the area"), they seem written for people with severed brain stems.
But a few nuggets sound scripted by a White House apparatchik. The manual encourages programmers to play the national anthem and other patriotic music "that makes you cry, salute, get cold chills. Go for the emotion!" It also advises talk-show hosts that "polarizing discussions" are shaky ground: "This is not the time to take cheap shots . . . not when our young men and women are in 'harm's way'!"
It would all seem rather banal -- except that the war has produced another round of complaints about media bias, this time concerning its trend to the right. McVay provided the smoking gun.
On March 28, The Washington Post printed excerpts from the manual, in a story about pro-war tilt in broadcast media. Consultants were encouraging clients to wave the flag and muffle protest, the Post said. The McVay memo was among the examples cited.
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If McVay is oblivious to his manual's propagandist qualities, it's probably because he doesn't move in journalism circles. He's an FM guy. In addition to radio consulting, he dispenses career advice to such artists as Reba McEntire, Hall & Oates, and Jewel. He encouraged Barry Manilow to create a show for cruise lines. "The 150 stations we consult pay the bills, but the fun part is working with the artists," he says.
Martin isn't perfect. He mentions the whole Dixie Chicks flap as being a minor incident until it was "disseminated through conservative apparatuses such as the Drudge Report." Making it appear that he buys into a whole organized right-wing conspiracy.
Yeah, But Who Cleans It Later
If you're taking this with you on a camping trip, you're not really camping.
Monday, April 28, 2003
Never even noticed
The calls started coming from family around 6pm. We didn't even know there was a problem.
A massive inferno swept through a marsh in Lake County for several hours Monday, according to officials.
NewsChannel5 reported that a 2-mile section of marsh north of Lakeshore Boulevard near state Route 44 caught fire quickly. The area has been susceptible to fires in the past because of the nearly 800 acres of dry grass, reeds and marshland. It is the largest natural reed-growing marsh in Ohio and is considered a national landmark.
Thick, black smoke was reportedly seen as far as 30 miles away, and the smoke billowed at least 3,000 feet into the air. Ashes reportedly dropped from the sky in several area communities.
We live about 10 miles west of the affected area. By the time the calls started coming, we flicked to the news which reported the fires were at least 80% under control.
The fire in Mentor reportedly spread several feet per minute. Almost 400 acres -- more than half of the marsh -- burned. However, as of 8 p.m., firefighters said the flames were 90 percent to 95 percent contained.
Gusty winds and dry conditions are responsible for the flames. Luckily, the winds helped push the smoke and flames toward the lake. There is no rain relief expected until late Monday evening.
For several hours, traffic was reportedly backed up on Interstate 90 and state Route 2 for miles, all the way into Cuyahoga County. State Route 44 north also experienced delays, as did Route 285 going into Grand River.
I'm guessing George had a devil of a time getting home.
We actually skipped out on calls for a while to continue to shop for the next stage of car seats. "Convertibles." We finally concluded -- almost. A baby store was closing, and we (the wife) decided (I conceded wearily) to get two Britax brand seats (one for each car) -- apparently the "Holy Grail" of car seats -- at a really amazing discounted price. We forgot the checkbook though, so we put a deposit down, and I go back tomorrow morning to claim them. (Thank god for scotch)
The lack of posts was do to a very active baby on Friday and today, sandwiched between a weekend visit from my parents -- it's worth noting that from the time I moved to Ohio for law school in 1994 to the time we told them that they would be grandparents (December 2001), they had come to Ohio (from Eastern Pennsylvania) 4 times; since the start of 2002, they have made 5 trips out here -- and most of Sunday in Chardon for the Maple Fest.
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