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Saturday, April 09, 2005
Battles From Within and Without
If you tell people you're writing a book, their first question is usually, "What's it about?" But as I moved about the the country in the reporting of this project, running into lots and lots of Beer People of all persuasions, I often got a quick second question: "Why you?"
It took a while to realize that what the Beer People were really asking was whether I was one of them. What were my beer credentials? Beer People, I learned, can be something of a fractious lot amongst themselves but they tend to be protective of the object of their passion with perceived outsiders. From the introduction to Travels With Barley: A Journal Through Beer Culture in America. This, of course holds true for most areas of passion. I saw it when I was a comic book geek. The beer guys I've known are similar. Anyone who has been involved in some sort of niche or hobby can recognize the behavior. It's no different with blogging. Bloggers tend to have a strong individualist streak. They can easily see other bloggers as hacks, ideologues, frivolous and/or sellouts. But start attacking them, or be perceived to be attacking and they start to close ranks.
You Can't Buy This Kind of Publicity
My good friend John, has had his first book published. A work of narrative journalism regarding the people of the Allegheny County Coroner's office. On Sunday, he will be at the Joseph-Beth Bookstore on Pittsburgh's Southside to sign copies. By remarkable coincidence, the Allegheny County Coroner's offices were raided on Friday by the FBI. The raid was with regard to Coroner Dr. Cyril Wecht.
Friday, April 08, 2005
Going With A Yawn
Cleveland City Council President, Frank Jackson kicked off his Mayoral campaign yesterday. The speech wasn't much of surprise. The theme is the same that all the candidates will be echoing. During his speech, Jackson outlined the general themes of his campaign: improving the schools, fostering economic development and job creation, reforming City Hall and increasing public safety. "We need to make Cleveland great again," he said. Jackson said good schools would help do that. He said the district's immediate and long-term financial needs must be addressed for that to happen. Jackson has long supported an August school tax issue. Campbell, who canceled plans for a May campaign in favor of a fall tax request, said Thursday that the district might go to the ballot in the summer or the fall. How any of them plan to do it? Who knows. Besides, that's not important right now.
As a little aside, I had noted earlier Mayor Jane Campbell's rather acid-tongued political advisor. Looks like some others have noticed his snipes.
JEERS . . . to Cleveland Mayor Jane Campbell's political adviser Jerry Austin for his snarky dismissal of Municipal Judge Robert Triozzi's decision to challenge Campbell: "He's been dealing with misdemeanor crimes. How many jobs has he created?" Austin's comment made himself - and his candidate - look bad. Hopefully Austin won't be muzzled. It will help keep the election lively. Given how both Campbell and Jackson are both so stiff, comments like this are needed.
Don't Bother With Budweiser World Select
Busy couple of days. My mother-in-law was up to help out, as I had a bunch of little things that needed to be done, and a couple speakers I wanted to hear at Case Law School (not to mention pick up a couple free CLE credits). I stopped by the grocery store to pick up a couple of things for dinner and decided to grab some beer. I'm not sure why, but I finally decided that I should give the Anheuser World Select a shot. The beer's been out for over a year (maybe close to 2), and I really didn't hear much about it. Granted, I never looked too hard. The supposed hook on the thing, is that the lager recipe was a collaboration from 10 brewmasters from 10 countries. The packaging was nice enough, even if it was in a green bottle which allows the beer to skunk if exposed to daylight. I wasn't going to hold the slick packaging against it. It would have been more annoying if it had tried to dress itself in some retro/old-style historic packaging. At least they were packaging it to be modern. I don't know what I was expecting. I prefer good beer, but I don't consider myself a beer snob. I'm as likely to have some Labatt's or Molson in the house as I am to have Newcastle, Great Lakes or a growler of something from the Willoughby Brewpub. What I didn't expect was a slightly stronger version of Bud. I spent $5 on a six-pack of Bud? I guess I should be relieved it was on sale. I don't even want to put the bottles in the recycling bin, for fear the neighbors will know. Looking around after the fact, confirms this evaluation. A complete waste. Spare yourself and do not even bother to try it. And know that if you see someone drinking it in a bar, they are either pretentious morons who can't taste the difference or poor saps who decided to give it a try.
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
And He Will Reform It?
Former UN Human Rights Attorney and co-author of Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures, has an article talking about the UN and Kofi Annan. He starts with some of the displays at the Rwanda Genocide Museum: Next to these tributes is another installation - a reproduction of the infamous fax by the UN Force Commander, General Romeo Dallaire, imploring the then head of UN peacekeeping, Kofi Annan, for authority to defend Rwandan civilians - many of whom had taken refuge in UN compounds under implicit and sometimes explicit promises of protection.
Here, too, is Annan's faxed response - ordering Dallaire to defend only the UN's image of impartiality, forbidding him to protect desperate civilians waiting to die. Next, it details the withdrawal of UN troops, even while blood flowed and the assassins reigned, leaving 800,000 Rwandans to their fate.
The museum's silent juxtaposition of personal courage versus Annan's passive capitulation to evil is an effective reminder of what is at stake in the debate over Annan's future: when the UN fails, innocent people die. Under Annan, the UN has failed and people have died.
His own legions have raped and pillaged. In two present scandals, over the oil-for-food programme in Iraq, and sex-for-food in Congo, Annan was personally aware of malfeasance among his staff, but again responded with passivity.
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Our book is often criticised by fellow travellers on the left because we hold Annan and the UN accountable. As head of peacekeeping then, and as secretary-general now, Annan's power to effect any change on the ground, our critics remind us, is constrained by the interests of the Security Council (the US and France didn't want to intervene in Rwanda, the French again in Bosnia, and China and Russia now in Darfur). Therefore it's unrealistic to argue that Annan should risk his job by exhorting his Security Council bosses to do the right thing in the face of genocide.
Our response? Annan asks - no, orders - unarmed civilians to risk their lives every day as election observers, human rights monitors, drivers and secretaries in the most dangerous conditions all over the world. They do it, heroically, every day. And, in the service of peace, some pay with their lives; others with their sanity. How can he then not ask of himself the courage to risk his job in the cause of preventing genocide? At the very least, he could go down trying to save lives, as opposed to going down trying to explain why he didn't.
The UN is in need of reform if it wants to survive. It can't be reformed with Annan in control.
Eastlake Ballpark -- Being Watched
Tom Crick has much more on the naming rights and what is in the ballpark lease. And he hopes to have even more later. Still my greatest concern about the 4 point something million dollar "agreement" mentioned in the article is the whole "rent credit reduction" clause peppered throughout the lease agreement.
The table in Article 4.1(a)(6) of the lease agreement defines what level of credit will be awarded for what level of proceeds the city receives in exchanghe for naming rights. The table states that the team can receive no rent credit for the naming rights, if the naming rights sell for anything above 4 million.
FANTASTIC ??
Well, we’ll see anyhow...
Although the table states "no rent credit" for that particular increment, Section 4.1 further states that the whole "present value" of the naming rights can be used to compute subsequent year's rent credit reduction. I have said all along, no where near enough scrutiny of the lease has taken place, and we need to proceed meticulously ... the recovery plan was based upon us "not getting" promised monies … we have no reason to hurry now and make a mistake that will cost us in the long run
Another interesting point, that you never hear mentioned is the fact that the "State Money" we are still trying to sound like we are trying to get, would also be used to compute rent credit reduction. Article 4.1(d) clearly states that the receipt of state funds would trigger a reopener, whereas the rent could be recomputed to a lesser figure.
The more we recieve, the more we might lose ... Read it all.
Eastlake Ballpark -- Trying To Comprehend
Arguably, the reality of the naming rights may put the actual net money for Eastlake at $2.76 million over 5 years. This is assuming the offset provision to the rent is still in effect. (Naming Rights - Rent Offset) * Years Paid = Net Naming Rights
( $ 852,000 - $ 300,000 ) * 5 Years = $ 2,760,000 I'll be honest, considering how pie in the sky the $5 million naming rights claims originally, it still doesn't look to be horrible. The city gets a lot more money in the first 5 years, rather than spread out over 10-20. That is, of course, assuming that the Captains then resume paying their $300,000 rent after the 5 years. If not, or they negotiated a reduction in the lease, then the deal could be even worse. Still plenty of questions.
Eastlake Ballpark -- Some Good News (I Think?)
In the convoluted world of municipal finances, bonds, stadium leases and contracts this would appear to be the case. The City of Eastlake has apparently sold the naming rights to the Eastlake ballpark to the Lake County Captains. Not for the $3.5 million as earlier reported, but for $4.26 million. This actually looks pretty good, because the money will be paid in only 5 years, or about $852,000 per year. The Captains keep the naming rights for 15 years. Getting more money early means some will likely go into some interest bearing accounts, and some will be used to make early paydowns on some of the bonds. Hopefully reducing their actual interest costs. The Captains will then turn around and sell the naming rights to the Classic Auto Group. The amonut and terms are not known. There is likely more to this than meets the eye, and require more information. Especially with relation to offsets and any possible changes to the terms of the actual lease. And of course, the question of why Eastlake couldn't negotiate directly with James A. Brown (the owner of Classic Auto Group) is legitimate. Still, on its face, this would look like a positive.
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Cavs Axing Paxson (at last)
Well, maybe not today, but very soon. Sources have told ESPN's Stephen A. Smith on Tuesday that Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert will fire general manager Jim Paxson within the next 48 hours. The team released a statement from Gilbert after the game addressing the report: "I don't think it makes sense for us to comment on the truth or the inaccuracy of rumors related to key positions in our organization."
He's gone. It really isn't much of a shock. Shortly after Silas was fired, it wasn't rocket science to figure Paxson was next. If you want to know the reasons for firing Paxson, you can read my look at his tenure as Cavs GM.
The Blogs of San Francisco
The SF ordinance to regulate blogs as campaign speech passed so it could be changed today. Never a group to say "enough," the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed its ethics and campaign finance legislation, twice today. One bill, has all the faults the blogosphere has derided. The other doesn’t. One – the faulty one – will move toward passage and be voted on again next week. The cleaned-up version will move toward passage, too. Only it has to go to the city's Ethics Commission for review. The idea is that the new cleaner version – that specifically exempts Internet-based communication including web logs, posting to sites and listserve mailings sent to folks who solicit that contact – will clear Ethics then catch up to the flawed bill. The newer bill will then be substituted for the flawed proposal. Goofy, but, hey, I wasn't kidding about the sausage. They are doing this for procedural reasons to make sure the legislation is in effect in time for the fall elections.
Just about all 11 members of the board declared they had no intent or desire to regulate blogs (now).
Eastlake Ballpark Update -- Money, Give Me Money
I noted that Eastlake has apparently sold the naming rights to the Lake County Captains for about $3.5 million. Tom Crick, who has thoroughly reviewed the lease between Eastlake and the Captains has a question. ...Article 4.1(a)(6) of the lease agreement.
It clearly states that the team can receive rent credit equal to the gross proceeds of the naming rights, if the naming rights sell for 3.5 million.
We could in effect lose 300k a year in rent, to receive 269,230.00 a year in naming rights monies ...(spreading the 3.5M over the remaining 13 or so years left on the deal) In other words, a potential annual loss of just under $31,000/year, unless this clause was waived by the Captains. Would Eastlake be that stupid? Would the elected officials be trying to play a shell game and count on no one noticing? Do they think the people are that stupid? I guess we'll find out soon. In other related ballpark news and money, it looks like the Congressional pork bill disguised as the federal transportation bill is getting closer to passing. This means the long awaited federal money to help pay for the ballpark. Seems things aren't quite as expected, though. When Eastlake gets its federal transportation money, the city should immediately use the money for interest and principal payments on stadium debt, says U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette.
LaTourette, R-Concord Township, said the pending six-year federal transportation bill could provide Eastlake with money to stabilize the city's current financial situation.
LaTourette made the suggestion during a meeting Monday with The News-Herald's editorial board.
The city is slated to receive $4.25 million from the bill that can be drawn out in yearly interval payments of 17 percent, or $722,500, annually over six years.
The bill already is two years late in its authorization.
So Eastlake could get its first two payments, or $1.445 million, once the bill passes, LaTourette said.
The city also can petition the Federal Highway Administration to receive the money in one lump sum, LaTourette said.
...
A major reason for the suggestion to spend the money now is because, by law, the city cannot put the money it receives from the transportation bill into an account that draws interest, the congressman said.
Eastlake officials had proposed putting the federal money into an account that draws interest and then using the money to pay off bonds early. This is just a shell game of shifting money so it all matches and complies with appropriate laws. If the city wanted, it could probably put the other money it was going to use to make bond payments into the interest account and use the federal money to make the regular payments. Rep. LaTourette also takes his bashing of former Mayor Dan DiLiberto (not that DiLiberto doesn't deserve most of the bashing): LaTourette also talked about former Mayor Dan DiLiberto's decision to build the stadium before funding was secured.
The congressman stressed he wasn't desirous to bash DiLiberto after the fact.
But LaTourette said he attended a meeting several years ago, in which DiLiberto scratched out a short list of potential funding sources on a sheet of paper.
"I told him not to build the stadium ahead of time," LaTourette said.
Among items on the former mayor's list included potential funds from a new county bed tax on motels and hotels, state money from the capital bill, the federal transportation bill and stadium naming rights, LaTourette said. For once, the former Mayor, presently hiding residing in his winter home in Florida, was actually willing to comment on the claims. He said he got no such warnings and very laughably says, "If I'd have received that kind of warning from Steve or from anyone else at that time, I'd probably wouldn't have moved forward with the stadium." Funny, I don't recall LaTourette making any warnings either. You would have thought that with such a big project in his district, and money needed to be secured by him, that he might have spoken up a little louder. You know, for the public debate and such. Not that I honestly think it would have stopped DiLiberto from pushing for it. And it wouldn't have dissuaded the News-Herald's editorial board at the time from pushing hard for the ballpark. Plenty of guilt and blame to share. In what must have been a nice long chat, LaTourette also pondered running again in 2006. Funny, I thought when he came in, he was going to only stay in Congress for a few terms. That he was part of the Republican Revolution to change the politics of Washington. He said his choice would be even more definite if his challenger is Capri S. Cafaro. LaTourette defeated Cafaro, a Hunting Valley Democrat, last November.
"If she's running, I'm running," LaTourette said during a meeting Monday with The News-Herald's editorial board.
The two candidates were involved in a bitter campaign that became personal at times.
LaTourette, R-Concord Township, said another factor that will weigh in his decision is that he is on the cusp of becoming chairman of the House Transportation Committee in 2006. With that position, and if he were re-elected to another term in 2008, LaTourette would be able to author the next federal transportation bill. I don't think Cafaro really plays much of an impact on his decision. Of course, I'd like to think the Democrats could possibly find someone better to run than someone who was such pathetic candidate. Someone who hasn't received federal immunity to testify.
Cleveland Mayoral Challengers
In good news for Mayor Jane Campbell, another person has decided to run against her for Mayor. The more people running, only helps the Mayor's chances as they will just split more votes. The latest is Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Robert Triozzi. Triozzi plans to focus on issues of job creation. The Mayor's people are not impressed. Jerry Austin, Campbell's political adviser, is not convinced that Triozzi will actually resign his job on the bench to run in a difficult race. "He's been dealing with misdemeanor crimes," Austin said. "How many jobs has he created?" An easy comeback is to ask about Mayor Campbell's history of job creation since taking office.
I'm not sure about this "political advisor" of Mayor Campbell. He keeps coming off as something that rhymes with blackhole. The other week, James Draper, a former Safety Director under Mayor Campbell announced he was running.
"It sounds to me like he's got a higher opinion of himself than others do," said Gerald Austin, Campbell's campaign strategist. "Some people call that suffering from delusions of grandeur." Once again, there's more than a little bit of irony on statements like that coming from the Campbell camp. Along with Draper and Triozzi, City Council President Frank Jackson is running. It is expected that local businessman Dan Moore will run. Will there be others? Some hope County Treasurer, Jim Rokakis will run. (Please ignore accidentally shorting county schools by $33 million dollars). There are other potential candidates, but clearly it is a weak field. At some point, people will be looking at the candidates and asking, "Who are those guys?"
It's definitely in Mayor Campbell's interest to see as many people run as possible. Even if they all gang up and pummel her over her record. A gaggle of candidates keeps any from getting too strong. An incumbent, even a less than popular one, always has the advantage of name recognition and the old cliché regarding "the devil you know," (a favorite of my father) applies.
Good Monday
I love that first Monday in April. Regardless of the weather, it is a sports joy. The opening day of baseball, and games all afternoon. Then capped off by watching the NCAA Championship. Never even got back to the computer after lunchtime.
Sunday, April 03, 2005
A Local Attempt to Regulate Blogs
Not in Cleveland. Try San Francisco. Just when you thought the Federal Election Commission had it out for the blogosphere, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors took it up a notch and announced yesterday that it will soon vote on a city ordinance that would require local bloggers to register with the city Ethics Commission and report all blog-related costs that exceed $1,000 in the aggregate. Blogs that mention candidates for local office that receive more than 500 hits will be forced to pay a registration fee and will be subject to website traffic audits, according to Chad Jacobs, a San Francisco City Attorney. The vote is set for Tuesday. I predict a blogstorm will postpone that vote.
Honestly, it is a joke. It would be a hoot to see them enforce it. How would they handle SF ex-pats blogging about the SF politics from Portland?
And where does this 500 hits number keep coming from? It is a ridiculously low number. Just Average 17 hits/day and you exceed that in a month.
Reader Representative
The Cleveland Plain Dealer has decided it needs an ombudsman. I'm not sure why. I have heard no reports of scandals or particular problems (like Jayson Blair at the NY Times). The paper's editor, though, seems to think there is a reason, but isn't saying. The Plain Dealer has been one of the 1,460 papers without one. Until recently, I argued that it was the responsibility of the paper's editors to represent the reader's interest. I still believe that. But I also believe we need help - of a special kind. Anyone know what he is talking about? This is going to spur some rumors and curiosity. How can you not try and read between the lines at that statement? So today I'd like to introduce you to Ted Diadiun, a seasoned newspaperman who has donned the many hats veterans are called upon to wear over a long career.
Ted has covered sports, edited sports pages, run a small newspaper, led a giant metro staff, recruited reporters, editors, photographers and artists, managed a multimillion-dollar newsroom budget.
He's smart, he's literate and he's fair. He is at once strong-willed, and flexible. And he's blessed with moral courage. In other words, he has all the tools one needs to weigh the facts and make a call.
Which is what he will be doing when he begins his service as the Plain Dealer's Reader Representative. (Ombudsman remains strange to American ears.) This means, Diadiun will join the Organization of News Ombudsmen. Who knew there was a whole organization devoted to a group with only 41 members in the US? On the plus and interesting side for Mr. Diadiun, he is a member of SABR. That can only be considered a plus. He also was in the center of a US Supreme Court case from 1990 regarding libel law. Diadiun wrote an opinion piece essentially accusing a high school wrestling coach of lying to the state governing board regarding the events of a match where a brawl ensued. Apparently, Diadiun and the defamed have since made up. I'm not sure how I feel about ombudsmen. They sound like a good idea, but they often seem like window dressing. Matt Welch had a good piece in opposition to them a couple years ago. The key: "Public editors" and "reader's representatives" have a fundamental conflict of interest that editorial boards have been attacking in the corporate world for years -- namely, that they are paid by the same people they are supposed to scrutinize. Further, many have been shaped by the very same newsrooms over which they ostensibly serve as "independent watchdogs." Even the most cussedly autonomous ombudsmen can't help reflecting and defending the values of their colleagues. This makes them useful tools for bosses who need a little chimney sweeping. Halliburton has an ombudsman; Southwest Airlines does not. (When contacted to confirm this, a Southwest public relations officer drawled, "What's an ombud-man?") MSNBC.com and the late Brill's Content, two news organizations riddled with more conflicts of interest than most, both made a big show out of hiring ombudsmen and were applauded by the media criticism community instead of challenged on their actual conflicts. The great New York Times, meanwhile, has managed to compile a decent ethical record without an ombudsman, recent troubles notwithstanding. Ombudsmen tend to have a startlingly uniform view of how news organizations and their employees should act and think of themselves. Crime coverage and screaming headlines -- bad. Four-part, 17,500-word series on race relations in a sleepy Southern town -- good. They typically see their position, the newsroom, and the paper itself to be exalted above the readers they are allegedly paid to represent.
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This is not to say that ombudsmen can't or don't do important work. But it is work a company that's responsive to its customers makes sure gets done by every employee, instead of being outsourced to a lone, reviled answer-man. Hiring a public editor is like advertising your monopolist indifference and staffing bloat; it's admitting defeat (or, depending on how you look at it, victory). Considering the PD is the only paper in town, that would put them in the monopolist portion.
Something to watch.
Taxes
Did the taxes this weekend. Ohio lets you do your taxes online, and it is pretty simple. Used a service called TaxNet to do the Federal. You can do it free online, and then print and send it in. Or pay $10 to have them e-file. We opted to save the $10 because we had some extra forms to send in, that the system didn't handle. Odd thing, when I filled out the envelope to mail the tax forms. You have groups of states sending to various service centers. Ohio, though, is the only one sending to a service center in Memphis, Tennessee. Tennessee residents, meanwhile, have to mail theirs to Austin, Texas. I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for that. I mean it's the federal government. There's always a logic process.
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