The Conversation

The End

2010-05-24T21:14:00.005-04:00

I briefly come out of retirement to discuss the finale of "Lost"...

Like "The Sopranos" before it, "Lost" ended after six seasons without answering many of its fans' most burning questions. I was among the minority that loved the ending of the "The Sopranos" and I'm also in the camp -- larger, I think -- that believes the ending of "Lost" wrapped up the show perfectly, or at least as well as we could hope for.

"Lost" had one advantage over "The Sopranos" in that the latter simply couldn't offer any kind of emotional uplift. "The Sopranos" featured a protaganist who was essentially a sociopath; Tony Soprano often knew what was right and chose wrong anyway. We rooted for him only to the extent that he was more likable than his equally amoral enemies.

"Lost", on the other hand, was populated by deeply flawed men and women struggling with their demons to do what was right. People, in other words, like us. The narrative at the heart of the show was in many ways the narrative of human history. Evolution has hard-wired us to put our own preservation above all else. And yet humans are social animals, and our own survival is dependent on our ability to cooperate with others. One of the show's early seminal moments was when Jack -- the show's hero -- urged his fellow castaways to live together or they would surely die alone. At that point they became a community, and the fate of one was tied to the fate of all.

But for a community to survive, its individual members must sacrifice -- sometimes their very lives. Self-sacrifice was a motiff that ran through the show up until the very end: Charlie drowning so that Desmond could be reunited with Penny; Sayid running to the other end of the submarine with the bomb to spare his fellow "candidates"; Jack giving his life to restore the light at the heart of the island which, apparently, saved the world as well as his fellow Losties.

On "Lost", sacrifice was the path to personal redemption, an idea at the heart of many religious traditions -- not the least of which being Christianity, whose themes were particularly prominent during the last few episodes of the series. Jacob's reluctance to take the drink from his mother brought to mind Jesus's exhortation to God to "take this cup from my lips." Jack opens his father's casket to find it empty, reminescent of the empty tomb that Christians celebrate on Easter. (Jack even asks his father -- named Christian, of course -- "Are you real?" much like the disciples who encounter the risen Lord after visiting his tomb.) And of course Jack makes a Christ-like sacrifice, not only to save his friends but, he believes, all of humankind.

There's plenty of Old Testament as well, like the allusions to the biblical story of Jacob and Esau in the story of Jacob and his twin, the Man in Black, and the hints of the Book of Job in their debate over the goodness of the other people on the island. But the show also relied heavily on Eastern religions, which teach that we strive toward spiritual unity with the universe, dying and being reborn until we reach a state of nirvanna. Time travel -- which I believe really happened to the characters on "Lost" -- is thus a metaphor not only for the castaways' attempt to escape their troubled past, but to make peace with their lives. The Man in Black tells Jacob "It always ends the same" to which Jacob replies "It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress."

Jacob was the island's protector -- its god, if you will -- and we can see in his successors a progression similar to the narrative that runs through Christianity. Jacob, who lorded over the island with inscrutable rules and indifference to the suffering of the people he used, yielded control to Jack and then Hurley -- the most caring and trustworthy of the castaways. Similarly, the mercurial and vengeful god of the Old Testament is transformed into a god of love and hope through the sacrifice of Jesus.

But it's worth noting that even in the Old Testament, the god of Israel is capable of great love and compassion, not only for his chosen people but also for the nations with whom they must reckon. In his persuasive book "The Evolution of God," Robert Wright explains that Yahweh's take on nonbelievers fluctuated depending on the political situation in Israel. When Israel was at the mercy of her enemies, or needed to form alliances, Yahweh grew tolerant of those other nations, more universal in his concern for humanity.

Wright sees the same pattern in other major religions, including Christianity and Islam, which accounts for the contradictions, for example, in how the Koran tells Muslims to treat nonbelievers. Sometimes Jews and Christians are fellow "people of the book"; other times they are infidels to be slaughtered. It's why the apostle Paul, trying to launch a new religion in a multi-ethnic empire, preached universal love and brotherhood, even though the historic Jesus likely did not espouse such a message.

Is this a case of religion influencing politics, or vice versa? Wright argues that it's a probably a little of each. The bottom line is that when human societies recognize the need to cooperate with neighbors with whom their religious beliefs conflict, then their religious beliefs become more accomodating -- bending to what Wright calls "the facts on the ground."

Wright sees in the sweep of human history soceities moving, in bloody fits and starts, toward increasing interdependence and mutual cooperation. It suggests that there is indeed a moral order to existence. And since it is our biological surival instincts, honed by natural selection, that push us toward cooperation, then this means the physical universe is part of this moral structure.

For Wright, this is a way to resolve the conflict between science and religion, faith and reason -- the debate at the heart of "Lost," between Jack and Locke, who was proven correct in his conviction that the island had a purpose for the passengers of Oceanic Flight 815. Bear in mind that Wright's formulation does not favor any particular diety or creed. People of science, like Jack, don't have to give up much ground. It doesn't challenge anything that we know or think we know about the physical world.

But it does not, however, allow us to believe in chaos. You can reject the designer, but you must reckon with the design. Jack understands this, finally, and it is all the more poignant that he can never tell Locke that he was right -- at least not in the land of the living. "Because you have seen me, you have believed," Jesus tells his disciple Thomas. "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

That was John Locke. And because of that, he, too, is the hero of "Lost."

Good night and good luck

2008-09-07T20:43:00.004-04:00

This is the 827th post on this blog, which I started four years ago. I've decided that it's going to go on hiatus for a while, simply because there are too many other demands on my time. That doesn't mean I'll no longer be wasting time on the Internet, and I may even post something occassionally on my other blog, Dead Tree Blog, which is dedicated to books. In fact, reading is one of the things I'd like to do more of, and when I started that blog, it was with the intention that I would drop this one.

I'm sure I'll check back in every once in a while, if only to offer my thoughts on the latest film I've seen, or one of my favorite TV shows. Otherwise, so long and thanks for indulging me.

Running scared

2008-09-04T21:31:00.002-04:00

Last night at the Republican National Convention, Sarah Palin gave a speech that came straight out of right-wing talk radio, and tonight the party is displaying pictures of military cemeteries on a giant video screen as Lindsey Graham claims that the Democrats in Congress voted to surrender in Iraq.

Man, the Republicans must really be terrified of what's going to happen in the fall. Either that, or they have finally run out of ideas.

Now that's change I can believe in

2008-08-31T19:49:00.001-04:00

Obama ain't bringing a knife to this gunfight:

I'm not sure if I like this Kool-Aid

2008-08-23T14:36:00.004-04:00

On the one hand, as some talking head noted this morning, Joe Biden, Barack Obama's recently selected running mate, can probably tell you how many homes he has without checking with his staff. He's spent 36 years in the Senate and though he won't be seen anytime soon standing in line for food stamps, he's of modest means compared to his Senate colleagues. That's significant when you consider how many elected officials manage to build a sizable fortune while serving in office. Biden's got integrity.

On the other hand, I've always regarded Biden as something of an arrogant windbag, and as Obama himself has correctly noted, experience doesn't always translate into good judgment, and Biden did not demonstrate the latter when, like Hillary Clinton, he gave George Bush his blank check for Iraq.

There's a third hand, which is that vice presidential nominees rarely if ever have much impact on the final outcome. They aren't difference makers. At best, they can boost your momentum, like Al Gore did for Bill Clinton in 1992, and at worst, they can kill it, the way Dan Quayle did for the first George Bush in 1988. (And what difference did that make in the end?) The days when a pick can truly blow up in your face, like Tom Eagleton did to George McGovern in 1972, are probably long gone. It's too hard to hide your skeletons anymore, and any presidential nominee nowadays that did such a poor job of vetting a VP pick doesn't deserve to get elected.

I heard one pollster this week say that Obama simply needed to pick someone who would make it through the first 72 hourrs without any problems, and so Biden, a rather known quantity, is a safe pick -- perhaps too safe, according to the AP's Ron Fournier:

He picked a 35-year veteran of the Senate - the ultimate insider - rather than a candidate from outside Washington, such as Govs. Tim Kaine of Virginia or Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas; or from outside his party, such as Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska; or from outside the mostly white male club of vice presidential candidates. Hillary Rodham Clinton didn't even make his short list.

The picks say something profound about Obama: For all his self-confidence, the 47-year-old Illinois senator worried that he couldn't beat Republican John McCain without help from a seasoned politician willing to attack. The Biden selection is the next logistical step in an Obama campaign that has become more negative - a strategic decision that may be necessary but threatens to run counter to his image.

Let's face it -- Obama has already demonstrated that he doesn't want to be another noble Democratic loser, and if his brand has to take a hit in the process, so be it. John McCain certainly doesn't seem to be fretting too much over the damage his reputation as a maverick is taking as he tries to make nice with the same evangelicals he spurned in 2000. Something tells me Obama already has the votes sown up of those who want a new kind of politics -- at least those who want it on the left. Sure, he could have made a more daring pick, and I might have been happier if he had. But for far too many voters, Obama is risky enough.

Wasn't there a hobbit in that one?

2008-08-17T20:49:00.003-04:00

Michael Machosky writes a paean in Sunday's Trib to a particular genre of '80s movie he dubs "Goonie Movies" in honor of "The Goonies." Few of the films Machosky mention stand the test of time, but that's hot his point: They were good popcorn films, with broader appeal than today's focus-group driven blockbusters.

While we may not see another "Goonies" anytime soon (which I don't think is a bad thing), we have witnessed the rebirth of a film genre that reached full flower back in the '80s: The R-rated comedy. I'm not the first person to herald the return of this species, which lately includes "Wedding Crashers", "The 40 Year Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up." Examples from the '80s that come to mind: "Caddyshack" and "Trading Places."

Now, the '90s gave us "American Pie" and "Road Trip", (the latter technically came out in 2000), both very funny, but those films largely were aimed at the same demographic they portrayed -- high school and college students. Today, even an ostensible high school comedy like "Superbad" seems made for people who have let a few years lapse since their last keg stand.

Of course, even some of the most memorable films from the 1980s bear the cheesy hallmarks of the era, like the montage -- "Wall Street" and "Tootsie", two very different films, each featured a split-screen montage -- and the original song that sounded like it came straight out of AM radio. (Not to mention the synthesizer-driven score.) It was indeed a memorable decade -- though not necessarily for the right reasons.

Sorry, Wall Street Journal

2008-08-10T09:58:00.002-04:00

It turns out the estate tax isn't quite the villian it's made out to be in the Steelers' ownership dispute:

On the surface, the estate tax seems daunting -- 45 percent on all estates above $2 million in value. With the Rooneys' 80 percent share of the franchise being valued at $800 million or more on the open market, that would seem to make the family liable for hundreds of millions of dollars in tax liabilities.

In reality, though, few estates pay the full estate tax rate, and there is almost no evidence that any family-owned enterprises have had to dissolve or sell out because of the federal tax, said Ben Harris, a senior research associate at the Tax Policy Center in Washington, D.C., a joint operation of the Brookings Institution and Urban Institute.

The tax center estimates that 17,500 estates will pay about $23 billion in federal estate taxes this year, for an average payment of just $1.3 million. Even the wealthiest estates -- those worth more than $20 million -- will pay an average tax rate of about 22 percent, less than half the official rate, the center estimates.

"The destruction of family businesses is often used as a motivation for repealing the estate tax, but there is very little proof that many family businesses are devastated by the tax," said Samuel Donaldson, a law professor at the University of Washington and a nationally known expert on estate tax matters.

"There are very few ways to get around the tax entirely," he added, "but there are any number of ways to reduce the tax." (link)

Another third party candidate

2008-08-06T09:45:00.000-04:00

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

Will the last person out of the suburbs please turn out the lights

2008-08-02T16:24:00.004-04:00

I'm not laughing. Really, I'm not:

Since real-estate tanked, many new planned communities across the country are half-empty, with for-sale signs outnumbering residents by a large margin.

Some of the projects abandoned by bankrupt developers are in places that were hotbeds of new housing construction: Southern California, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Phoenix. As of July, the percentage of vacant housing stock available for sale or rent stood at 4.8% nationally, the highest figure in at least 33 years, according to Zelman & Associates, a real-estate research firm.

Daily life in these developments seems a bit post-cataclysmic. Children play on elaborate but empty playgrounds. They walk their dogs past rows of shiny houses that have never been lived in. Voices echo up and down the block. Unfinished houses and vacant lots strewn with construction debris clutter the horizon. (link)

A modest proposal...

2008-07-15T19:36:00.005-04:00

...that we all stop frothing at the mouth over the cover of the latest The New Yorker. I'm with Jack Shafer on this one:

Calling on the press to protect the common man from the potential corruptions of satire is a strange, paternalistic assignment for any journalist to give his peers, but that appears to be what The New Yorker's detractors desire. I don't know whether to be crushed by that realization or elated by the notion that one of the most elite journals in the land has faith that Joe Sixpack can figure out a damned picture for himself.

Yes, I understand why some people are taking offense, and as an Obama supporter I certainly understand the danger the cartoon poses. Satire can be easily misinterpreted or taken at face value. My grandmother, I'm sorry to say, was one of the most bigoted people I've ever known (rest her soul), yet she loved "All in the Family." And I'm sure she wasn't the only one. That doesn't mean that Norman Lear or Carol O'Connor should have been pilloried for lampooning racism.

What I find depressing about this episode is that it reinforces the stereotype that liberals are humorless, politically correct scolds. Some have even gone as far as to call The New Yorker "gutless" for failing, on its cover, to criticize John McCain for benefitting from the ugly rumors being floated about Obama.

Come on. Few mainstream media outlets have been as aggressive in covering the Bush administration as The New Yorker. They don't have to prove their chops to anyone. Besides, the Internet echo chamber aside, if Obama needs to rely on a magazine whose readers probably already support him, then he's got problems.

"Wait -- which football team plays here?"

2008-07-10T21:48:00.003-04:00

John McCain told Jon Delano that the Pittsburgh Steelers helped him endure torture at the hands of his North Vietnamese captors:

"When I was first interrogated and really had to give some information because of the physical pressures that were on me, I named the starting lineup -- defensive line -- of the Pittsburgh Steelers as my squadron-mates!"

There's just one problem with that story:

...the Steelers aren't the team whose defensive line McCain named for his Vietnamese tormentors. The Green Bay Packers are. At least according to every previous time McCain has told this story. And the McCain campaign just told ABC News that the senator made a mistake -- it was, indeed, the Packers.

In McCain's best-selling 1999 memoir “Faith of My Fathers,” McCain writes:

“Once my condition had stabilized, my interrogators resumed their work. Demands for military information were accompanied by threats to terminate my medical treatment if I did not cooperate. Eventually, I gave them my ship’s name and squadron number, and confirmed that my target had been the power plant. Pressed for more useful information, I gave the names of the Green Bay Packers offensive line, and said they were members of my squadron. When asked to identify future targets, I simply recited the names of a number of North Vietnamese cities that had already been bombed.”

In 2005, A&E ran a movie version of "Faith of My Fathers."

And McCain discussed that precise clip on CNN.

The actor playing McCain, asked to name the men in his squadron, says: "Starr; Greg; McGee; Davis; Adderly; Brown; Ringo; Wood."

Cut back to real life. The CNN anchor asks McCain: "For those who don't know the story, were those NFL football players?"

"That was the starting lineup of the Green Bay Packers, the first Super Bowl champions, yes," McCain responded. But it's -- it was the best I could think of at the time."

The movie actually shows this act of defiance twice.

INTERROGATOR: The names of your squadron...
MCCAIN: Starr, Gregg...McGee, Davis...Adderley, Brown, Ringo, Wood.
INTERROGATOR: Ten points, McCain.
MCCAIN: Ray Nitschke, our C.O.

The Packers anecdote is not only a key part of the McCain biography, it's part of his argument against torture.

Explaining why he thinks torture can result in erroneous information, McCain wrote in Newsweek in 2005, "In my experience, abuse of prisoners often produces bad intelligence because under torture a person will say anything he thinks his captors want to hear--whether it is true or false--if he believes it will relieve his suffering. I was once physically coerced to provide my enemies with the names of the members of my flight squadron, information that had little if any value to my enemies as actionable intelligence. But I did not refuse, or repeat my insistence that I was required under the Geneva Conventions to provide my captors only with my name, rank and serial number. Instead, I gave them the names of the Green Bay Packers' offensive line, knowing that providing them false information was sufficient to suspend the abuse."

McCain's valor as a P.O.W. is beyond admirable, but this business of substituting the Steelers for the Packers is odd, though as I said, the McCain campaign says this was an honest mistake.

Yes, a mistake he just happened to make while he was in Pittsburgh, a town with a singular devotion to its football team and the second largest city in a critical swing state.

What? Nothing about Brookline?

2008-07-05T14:00:00.001-04:00

Our problems are solved: The New York Times digs Pittsburgh.

Not in his lifetime

2008-07-04T14:05:00.003-04:00

I'm sad that Jesse Helms is dead. Had he hung on for a few more months, he might have witnessed the election of the first black president -- and he would have gone to his grave realizing that much of his life's work had been for naught.

It's worth noting that a White House spokesman called Helms "a great public servant and true patriot" and Bob Dole called him a "good, decent human being." I understand that it's bad form to speak ill of the dead, but perhaps a more appropriate, yet tasteful statement, would have gone like this:

"We extend our sympathies to the family of Jesse Helms. We understand that Jesse did what he believed was right, but it is tragic that he wasted so much time, talent and energy toward dividing Americans, and to denying African-Americans the liberties guaranteed them under the U.S. Constitution. His death should not make us forget that much of what he stood for was wrong. "

A city at risk

2008-06-29T12:30:00.006-04:00

In a nice little column Sunday about Pittsburgh's Little Italy, Joseph Mistick declares, "With gas prices through the roof, the time for a return to the great American urban neighborhood may be here."

I certainly hope Miskick is correct. I've written (ranted) ad nauseum on this blog in favor of urban living and policies that promote walkable, sustainable communities. But there's a major obstacle standing in the way of this great urban renaissance, and the events of the past week in Pittsburgh have brought it into relief. Simply put, Pittsburgh -- and other cities which share its woes -- will continue to struggle with population loss and the resulting economic stagnation so long as it has what is perceived to be a failing school system.

That's certainly not an original observation on my part. The link between a community's livability and the quality of its public schools is quite well-established. Schools are a big part of the reason that people move to places like Mt. Lebanon and Upper St. Clair and Fox Chapel.

But absent from the public discourse about Pittsburgh's future is much evidence that people understand that the fate of the city and the fate of the school district are inextricably linked. The school district's troubles may have once been a symptom of Pittsburgh's economic decline. Now, cause and effect are reversing themselves, and the school district is dragging the city down with it. (That is not a comment on the two entities' respective governing bodies. In truth, the school district has been better managed than the city over the past two decades.)

If the numbers aren't enough to convince you, try talking to suburban parents. My wife belongs to a moms' group, and when another member finds out we live in the city, her first question to my wife is, "What are you going to do when it's time for your daughter to go to school?" As far as they are concerned, the city schools aren't even an option.

I don't know what the solution is. The first step is to acknowledge that this a crisis in the life of the city that must be dealt with, and soon. A lot of the people who got involved in the fight over Schenley High School understand this, and regardless of how you feel about the decision to close the school, it does provide what educators call a teachable moment. We have the opportunitiy to push the school system to the top of the public agenda. The energy that was expended to fight for this one school must be turned toward saving the entire system -- which means that some of the people who hurled insults at one another are going to have to work together from here on out.

We owe it to our children. And to our city.

Thanks, Supremes

2008-06-26T19:40:00.005-04:00

Boy, did the Supreme Court do Barack Obama a solid today. Never mind gay marriage amendments. Can you imagine the furor among conservatives had the court ruled 5-4 that the Second Amendment does not allow for individuals to own guns? They would have forgetten real quick whatever beef they have with John McCain as he fell all over himself promising to appoint gun-loving judges to the high court.

Besides, the court's ruling leaves plenty of wriggle room for sensible restrictions on gun ownership:

But the court held that the individual right to possess a gun “for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home” is not unlimited. “It is not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose,” Justice Scalia wrote.

The ruling does not mean, for instance, that laws against carrying concealed weapons are to be swept aside. Furthermore, Justice Scalia wrote, “The court’s opinion should not be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.” (link)

In other words, the Second Amendment is no more absolute than any of our other constitutional protections, just about all of which have had some kind of Supreme Court-approved sanctions imposed on them throughout the history of the republic. Somehow, I doubt that little nuance will merit much attention by those who praise the wisdom of today's ruling.

One nation, under God

2008-06-21T09:05:00.005-04:00

The New York Times reports that conservative 527 groups are having trouble raising money to defame Barack Obama. The Times cites as an example a group dedicated to unmasking Obama as a Muslim:

The second spot highlights a Roman Catholic elementary school roster from Indonesia showing that Mr. Obama registered as a Muslim. The campaign said that the notation was probably made because Mr. Obama’s stepfather was nominally a Muslim but that the candidate had never been a Muslim. He is a committed Christian. (link)

I'd like to think I'm a pragmatist, so I understand that given the political climate in the U.S. since 2001, Obama has to quash the rumor that he is a Muslim. But wouldn't it be nice if instead he could engage his opponents in a debate over whether we really want to live in a nation in which a candidate for office, or any person, has to prove what his or her religion is, or isn't. Isn't a religious test contrary to just about everything we are supposed to stand for as Americans?

Some people would answer that question differently than I would. But I think the debate would do us all good.

"What's left to hope for?"

2008-06-11T20:49:00.003-04:00

I discuss the film "Children of Men" over at my other blog.

Don't stop believin'

2008-06-09T20:35:00.004-04:00

You thought I was obsessed with "The Sopranos"? I don't know when I'll have time to read this multi-part deconstruction of the final episode. (Which, after a second viewing, I've decided is one of the best series finales ever.)

Ha!

2008-05-31T15:10:00.003-04:00

Know anybody with a bad Christopher Walken impersonation?

"Nobody wants to pay twenty dollars to watch people living next to chemical waste! They can see that in New Jersey!"

2008-05-27T20:42:00.003-04:00

Several weeks ago I came upon this collection of cameos by film directors, which included the recently departed Sydney Pollack's appearance in his film "Tootsie." It's inaccurate to refer to Pollack's role as agent George Fields as a cameo -- it was an important supporting role, and he and star Dustin Hoffman shared some of the film's most memorable scenes.

Pollack began his career as an actor and as the director cameo item notes, he had as many acting credits as he did directing credits. Among his other memorable acting roles, in my opinion, was his turn in the under-appreciated "Changing Lanes" as the amoral father-in-law of Ben Affleck's character, and his role as a man struggling with a midlife crisis in Woody Allen's "Husbands and Wives." And let's not forget his appearance in the final season of "The Sopranos." (See my summation of that episode here.)

Rest in peace.

The dismal science, yes, but a science nonetheless

2008-05-02T19:22:00.003-04:00

Hillary Clinton has rightly calld out George W. Bush for making policy in disregard of scientific expertise. And yet:

When I asked Communications Director Howard Wolfson if the Clinton team could offer any intellectual ballast for the gas-tax vacation, given that so many policymakers had criticized it, he said, "The presidency requires leadership. … There are times when the president does something that the group of experts, quote unquote, does not agree with. Presidents get advice and then act, and that is what Senator Clinton is doing." Or, as George Bush used to put it: A leader leads. Even if off a cliff. (link)

Now that's what I call a politician

2008-04-29T19:05:00.003-04:00

It must be nice to be Hillary Clinton. She gets to tweak Barack Obama anew for the ongoing spectacle that is the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, while her supporter pushes him as a speaker to the National Press Club -- the very forum that has renewed the controversey over Obama's former pastor:

National Press Club president Sylvia Smith responded today to a Daily News article reporting that club member Barbara Reynolds, a Hillary Clinton supporter, organized yesterday’s breakfast talk with Dr. Jeremiah Wright Jr. Smith said by phone this morning that she still doesn’t know if Reynolds supports Clinton, and doesn’t care either way.

“Reverend Wright is newsworthy, period,” Smith said. But Wright wasn’t as newsworthy two years ago when Reynolds first pitched Barack Obama’s controversial pastor as a potential speaker for the press club, according to Smith. At that time, the speaker’s committee—of which Reynolds is now a part of, but wasn’t at the time—didn’t move forward with selecting Wright.

“He wasn’t newsworthy then in the broader context,” Smith said.

An ordained minister, Reynolds, teaches at Howard University School of Divinity, and knows Wright personally. So she was the ideal contact person for Wright when the controversy broke in mid-March. Smith said that Reynolds pitched Wright again as a speaker, and the speakers committee wanted him because he was far more newsworthy than two years earlier. Reynolds became the point person.

Clinton, meanwhile, agrees with the man she hopes to face in the fall election, John McCain, when it comes to his disasterous idea to suspend the federal gas tax:

Mrs. Clinton, of New York, has also taken varying stands on the issue of gas taxes. In her 2000 Senate campaign, she spoke against repealing the federal gasoline tax, calling it “one of those few taxes that New York actually gets more money from Washington than we send.”

Silver linings

2008-04-27T13:35:00.004-04:00

Frank Rich may be whistling past the graveyard, but there's a lot of merit methinks in his arguments that things aren't going great right now for presumptive Republican nominee John McCain. First of all, Rich notes, McCain's opponents in the Pennsylvania Republican primary Tuesday received 27 percent of the vote, even though McCain now has enough pledged delegates to win the nomination. (Ron Paul is a western Pennsylvania native, but he's drawn so little media coverage lately that I'm guessing that fact faded from voters' memories.)

To add to Rich's point, the broohaha in North Carolina over the state GOP's ads linking statewide Democratic candidates there to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright may be alienating some Republican voters from McCain, who has roundly criticized the ads. I listened to an NPR report (I think it was this one) in which North Carolina conservatives complained that they still haven't heard what they want to hear from McCain, a candidate distrusted by many conservatives. Given the flawed candidates McCain beat for the nomination, it's possible he still has to seal the deal with many Republican voters.

As Rich notes, McCain is also missing out on the grilling that the Democratic candidates are giving each other, which Rich seems to think will do less damage to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton than the conventional wisdom holds. In fact, McCain has a bunch of problems, according to Rich:

Mr. McCain is not only burdened with the most despised president in his own 71-year lifetime, but he’s getting none of the seasoning that he, no less than the Democrats, needs to compete in the fall. Age is as much an issue as race and gender in this campaign. Mr. McCain will have to prove not merely that he can keep to the physical rigors of his schedule and fend off investigations of his ties to lobbyists and developers. He also must show he can think and speak fluently about the domestic issues that are gripping the country. Picture him debating either Democrat about health care, the mortgage crisis, stagnant middle-class wages, rice rationing at Costco. It’s not pretty.

Indeed.

I hope he heeds it

2008-04-27T10:16:00.001-04:00

Here is some good advice for Barack Obama.

The things you learn by reading the newspaper

2008-04-26T09:53:00.005-04:00

The Trib today has an article about Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's fears that community benefits agreements (CBA) like the one forged between the Penguins and Hill District residents will scare away developers if other neighborhoods push for CBAs.

"My belief is that it was a unique situation," Ravenstahl said Thursday. "It was the result of the prior experiences that they had with the Mellon Arena site that was developed, and the uprooting and dislodging and changing of a neighborhood without any consultation. That's why a community benefits agreement was ultimately reached and why we entered into the dialogue." (link)

The mayor may be correct that the situation in the Hill District is unique because of the historical baggage the construction of a new arena carries. But it's my belief that any time a developer is relying on the power of government to get their project done -- either through subsidies or the granting of exclusive development rights -- then neighbors deserve to have a say in how that development will unfold. If developers use their own money, and secure land or development rights on the open market, then, perhaps, they can tell neighbors to go pound sand. Otherwise, residents deserve a place at the table.

In other news, according to this story about new highway funding, the federal gasoline tax has remained at 18.4 cents since 1993. In constant dollars, that's about 13 cents. Adjusted for inflation, the tax would be 27 cents.

So what's my point? People who know me or who read this blog regularly (about three people) know that I'm an advocate of walkable, high-densiy development, and that government should be pushing people to conserve fuel, and not just throwing money at developing alternative sources of energy (though given the rapid development of ecomomies in places like India and China, both strategies are probably necessary.)

Therefore, I propose that the gasoline tax be adjusted for inflation at least every two to three years. Making gasoline even more expensive than it is now would encourage people to drive less, and also encourage more sustainable development. In the short term, it would also raise more revenues for road repairs, since short-term demand for gasoline is relatively inelastic. In the long-term, gas tax revenues would fall, but so would wear and tear on roads and bridges.

You're g--d--- right I'm bitter

2008-04-23T21:32:00.001-04:00

She's on her way:

(Thanks to Jason.)

Yes and no

2008-04-20T13:55:00.003-04:00

As I think I've made clear, I'll be voting for Barack Obama on Tuesday. So I'll admit to a certain amount of initial glee when I read this essay by Camille Paglia telling women that Hillary Clinton does not deserve their support. The more I thought about it, though, the more I realized it contained more than a couple cheap shots. To wit:

Whatever her official feminist credo, Hillary's public career has glaringly been a subset to her husband's success. Despite her reputation for brilliance, she failed the Washington, DC bar exam. Thus her migration to Little Rock was not simply a selfless drama for love; she was fleeing the capital where she had hoped to make her mark.

In Little Rock, every role that Hillary played was obtained via her husband's influence - from her position at the Rose Law Firm to her seat on the board of Wal-Mart to her advocacy for public education reform. In a pattern that would continue after Bill became president, Hillary would draw attention by expressing public "concern" for a problem, without ever being able to organise a programme for reform.

Clinton, I'm sure, would appreciate the irony. In 1992, she has to defend herself for being too independent, and now, when she's running for president, she's criticized for being little more than a glorified housewife.

Here's the problem with what Paglia writes: Hillary Clinton is 60 years old. No doubt she's had far more opportunities in her life than her mother -- but she's probably had far fewer than her daughter. The glass ceiling in politics is no doubt lower and sturdier than in many other fields. Even if you have the wherewithall to get your name on a ballot, voters are not bound by anti-discrimination laws.

Look around. No other female politician is poised to make a serious run at the presidency. Paglia's feminist sensibilities may be offended by Clinton's use of her husband's career as a springboard, but nepotism is a venerable tradition in politics, and it's propelled numerous male careers.

I'll confess to not being as familiar with Clinton's history as Paglia purports to be, so it's possible that the future First Lady did run from Washington with her tail between her legs, as Paglia writes. I'm also not a lawyer, but I bet Clinton isn't the first intelligent person to fail the D.C. bar exam. I'm sure she could have tried again. Perhaps she chose to make her career secondary to that of her husband. The Clintons would not be the first couple whose ambitions came into conflict, or could not be simultaneously realized. Certainly, there is far more social and cultural pressure on a woman to choose family over career, but Paglia doesn't even give Hillary Clinton credit for making a choice in the first place. Having failed in her own right, Paglia writes, Clinton accepted the consolation prize of her husband's coattails. It's an unfair and patronizing assessment.

There is, however, some poetic justice in Clinton facing this line of attack. Her famous line in 1992 about not having stayed home and baked cookies may have been a broadside at people who see no place for women outside the home. But it was also demeaning to women who choose, for whatever reason, to be homemakers. It was also, dare I say, elitist.

Like Paglia, I find Clinton to be an odd choice for a feminist icon, given that much of her career is owed to her husband. But she's also a reminder that in 2008, women still face the kind of damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't dilemmas that trouble men not a whit.

Mister we could use a man like Jimmy Carter again

2008-04-20T12:55:00.005-04:00

Smarter people than I have already weighed in on how ill-advised it would be to suspend the federal gasoline tax, as John McCain has proposed. Let me add my own voice nonetheless: This is a really, really, stupid idea. Our so-called leaders should be telling us to consume less fuel, not giving us license to use more. (Not to mention the loss of funds for road and bridge repair.)

And I'm not letting the Democratic candidates off the hook. They can spar all they want over oil company profits, or who did or didn't vote for the Bush administration energy proposal, but I don't hear either one of them giving the hard truth to the American people: The age of cheap energy is gone, probably for good, and neither technology nor alternative fuels will save us unless we make fundamental changes in the way we live.

What's the matter with conventional wisdom

2008-04-20T09:34:00.001-04:00

Paul Krugman challenges, as he has before, the entire bitter/What's the Matter with Kansas thesis:

It’s true that Americans who attend church regularly are more likely to vote Republican. But contrary to the stereotype, this relationship is weak at low incomes but strong among high-income voters. That is, to the extent that religion helps the G.O.P., it’s not by convincing the working class to vote against its own interests, but by producing supermajorities among the evangelical affluent.

So why have Republicans won so many elections? In his book, “Unequal Democracy,” Mr. Bartels shows that “the shift of the Solid South from Democratic to Republican control in the wake of the civil rights movement” explains all — literally all — of the Republican success story. (link)

Context? We don't need no stinkin' context

2008-04-13T20:55:00.003-04:00

Bram posts Obama's "bitter" remarks in their entirety. He could have chosen his words better, but it's nowhere near the condescending tripe it's made out to be.

Someone needs to take away his copy of "What's the Matter with Kansas?"

2008-04-12T12:29:00.002-04:00

Cling to guns? Really?

At issue are comments Obama made privately at a fundraising gathering in San Francisco last Sunday. He explained his troubles winning over working class voters, saying they have become frustrated with economic conditions:

"It's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

The comments, posted on the Huffington Post political Web site Friday, set off a storm of criticism from Clinton, Republican nominee-in-waiting John McCain and a number of other GOP officials. (link)

So much for narrowing Clinton's lead in Pennsylvania.

This parrot is no more

2008-04-11T19:43:00.002-04:00

Someone decided to make a list of the top 50 comedy sketches -- quite a bold undertaking. Personally, I prefer the cheese shop sketch (see below) to the dead parrot.

Steely McDrunk

2008-04-09T20:57:00.001-04:00

Not only is this guy facing DUI charges, but now everyone knows what he did for a living.

The problem lies not in our stars, but in ourselves

2008-04-09T20:37:00.003-04:00

A blogger at the Chronicle of Higher Education says that technology can't save us from our addiction to cheap oil:

Better solar panels, improved insulation, and more miles per gallon are attainable if we want them; the lab wizards can be counted on to provide them.

The real problem is that the energy crisis is mainly in our heads — in our habits and comfort preferences. (link)

That's why it drives me nuts to hear politicians -- including those I support, like Barack Obama -- complain about oil companies' "windfall profits." If we stop driving so damn much (says the Brookline resident who works in Moon), then maybe those gas prices will go down.

"Don't look for it, Taylor. You may not like what you find."

2008-04-06T12:29:00.002-04:00

The New York Times obituary of Charleton Heston noted that reprised his role of astronaut George Taylor in "Beneath the Planet of the Apes", the sequel to 1968's "Planet of the Apes." Heston, however, appeared on briefly in the second "Apes" film (which, in my opinion, was the worst). The protaganist of the second film, cast for his resemblance to Heston, was James Franciscus.

I don't think anyone would ever call Heston a great actor. Others of his generation had far greater talents. But he never failed to entertain, either as Moses or the guy who discovers that Soylent Green is people. That's what it's all about.

Let's keep our eye on the ball, people

2008-04-06T08:43:00.003-04:00

Frank Rich lays out the case against John McCain. All those Obama and Clinton supporters who say they won't vote for their opponent against McCain had better pay heed:

The difference between the Democrats and Mr. McCain going forward is clear enough: They want to find a way out of the morass, however provisional and imperfect, and he equates staying the disastrous course with patriotism. Mr. McCain’s doomed promise of military “victory” in Iraq is akin to Wile E. Coyote’s perpetual pursuit of the Road Runner, with much higher carnage. This isn’t patriotism. As the old saying goes, doing the same thing over and over again and hoping you’ll get a different result is the definition of insanity.

That's one they might want to let us have

2008-04-06T08:29:00.007-04:00

The New York Times has a fascinating article about persistent rumors, during his lifetime and after, that President Warren Harding had African-American ancestry. One can imagine the chuckle African Americans might have at the thought that at a time when racism and segregation reigned supreme in American society -- the articles notes that the Ku Klux Klan enjoyed a revival in the 1920s -- Americans inadvertenly elected a president with black relatives. On the other hand, no one is going to be doing any bragging about Warren Harding, who, as a friend noted, had the good sense to die before the extent of his administration's corruption was revealed.

This is your hometown

2008-04-05T15:09:00.001-04:00

The New York Times visits the birthplace of yours truly and allows readers to draw thei own conclusions.

The road to Damascus

2008-04-03T20:46:00.002-04:00

Luke Ravenstahl has seen the light and embraced city-county consolidation. But what is the likelihood that a referendum calling for a city-county merger will pass? I'm wondering if Ravenstahl and Dan Onorato are pushing this, thinking that it probably will be rejected by voters. They'll be able to claim credit for pushing a bold solution to the region's problems, without taking too big a hit for endorsing an unpopular idea. And if the referendum did pass, then regardless of the consequences, it would be an historic achievement that would bolster both men's careers.

In other words, it's a win-win proposition. Why wouldn't the mayor get behind it?

Second verse, same as the first

2008-03-27T19:35:00.003-04:00

Hillary Clinton doesn't want to rock the boat:

Sen. Hillary Clinton is planning a smooth honeymoon.

Her plan for the first 100 days of a second Clinton administration, traditionally a period of comity for new presidents, is made up mostly of practical proposals that are likely to succeed, analysts said.

But if Clinton wins the Democratic nomination and general election in November, she doesn't plan to use the popular support new presidents typically enjoy as leverage for major battles over issues such as universal health care. (link)

Just like her husband -- play it safe, split the difference and allow our serious problems to fester. No thanks.

Really?

2008-03-26T21:07:00.001-04:00

Here's an interesting statement:

Clinton spokesman Phil Singer said Clinton had made the case superdelegates should exercise independent judgment about who would be the best for the party and the country.

"Few have done more to build the Democratic Party than Bill and Hillary Clinton. The last thing they need is a lecture from the Obama campaign," he said. (link)

Let's not forget that Bill Clinton was president in 1994, when the Democrats suffered their historic electoral route. I could be mistaken, but I believe there were not only fewer Democratic members of Congress when Clinton left office than when he assumed it, but fewer Democratic governors as well.

How is that building the party?

Your Congress at work

2008-03-26T20:59:00.003-04:00

The United States has been mired in Iraq for five years, and the economy is hurtling toward a recession. But Congress is focusing on what's really important:

Roger Clemens got some new Republican support in his dispute with Brian McNamee.

Reprising the partisan nature of last month's congressional hearing that examined whether the seven-time Cy Young Award winner took performance-enhancing drugs, the leading Republican on the committee that heard testimony from Clemens and McNamee released a report Tuesday questioning some of the Democratic majority's findings.

The 109-page report ``seeks to dispel conclusions that may have resulted from an incomplete consideration of the full record'' and contains details Rep. Tom Davis believes could challenge the credibility of McNamee, the personal trainer who testified under oath he injected Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone from 1998-01.

Minority staff from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will pass along additional information to the Justice Department. The FBI is investigating whether Clemens testified truthfully to Congress. (link)

Another city, not my own

2008-03-12T19:58:00.003-04:00

Why do I have the feeling that Camille Paglia has never been to Pittsburgh:

Current scuttlebutt -- a frail reed in this mercurial race -- is that the multiracial metropolises of Pittsburgh and Philadelphia will go for Obama, while the vast rural and small-town heartland will endorse Clinton, whose family roots are in coal-country Scranton. (link)

Multiracial? Metropolis?

Truth, justice and the American way

2008-03-10T19:30:00.004-04:00

Over the weekend I watched "Hollywoodland", a stylish piece of noir that examined the 1959 shooting death of actor George Reeves, who portrayed Superman in the TV show "Adventures of Superman." Reeves' death was ruled a suicide, but it has long fueled rumors that he was murdered.

The film mixes fact and fiction, and its protagonist is a fictional private investigator, Louis Simo (Adrian Brody), a publicity hound hired by Reeves' mother to prove that her son was did not kill himself. I give credit to the filmmakers and Brody for giving a fresh twist to the hard-boiled P.I. archetype. Simo is divorced and struggling to maintain a connection with his young son, Evan, who is distraught over Reeves' death. That struck me as something of a contrivance, but the death of Superman is nonetheless an apt metaphor for what the boy is really missing -- his father. Indeed, Simo begins to identify with Reeves, as both men are bitterly disappointed at the direction their professional and private lives have taken.

Simo learns that Reeves (Ben Affleck) was the paramour of Toni Mannix (Diane Lane), the wife of MGM studio executive Eddie Mannix. Reeves is horrified when he discovers that Toni is married to such a powerful Hollywood figure, but she assures him that she and Eddie have an understanding. They soon are dining with Eddie and his Japanese mistress, and Eddie -- portrayed with perfect menace by Bob Hoskins -- can barely bring himself to speak to Reeves. One senses his contempt springs less from jealousy than from the belief that Reeves isn't worthy of his wife's attentions.

By the time Reeves lands the role of Superman -- and the show, to his chagrin, becomes a hit -- he is a kept man, living in a house that Toni buys for him. She is unable, or unwilling, to use her influence to further Reeves' career, which flounders when "Superman" is canceled. (The film perpetuates what is apparently a myth that most of Reeves' scenes were cut from "From Here to Eternity" after a preview audience made derisive references to the actor's role as the Man of Steel.) Reeves ends up leaving Toni for a gold-digging actress named Leonore Lemon, who seems unmoved by his death.

"Hollywoodland" is a gorgeous picture, expertly capturing 1950s Hollywood glamor. It is, however, far too slow out of the gate, and once it gets going, it takes far too long to finish. The film is rescued by strong acting and detailed characterization -- though while Affleck's performance as Reeves is enjoyable, he never really looks the part of a washed-up actor. (Yes, Affleck arguably is a washed-up actor, but if you've ever seen the later episodes of the "Superman" show, you'll realize that he needed to have gained a few pounds to really get into character. Plus, he never seems to age, despite the span of time covered by the film.)

Brody, however, freed from the burdens of historical accuracy, gives a spot-on performance, and in the end, Louis Simo is a far more interesting character than George Reeves. Like Reeves, Simo stares into the abyss, but unlike the doomed actor, he has a lifeline -- his son -- to keep him from falling in.

Bush: Torture is A-OK

2008-03-08T08:44:00.001-05:00

Wake me on Jan. 20.

I liked it better the first time -- when it was called "Soul Man"

2008-03-08T08:31:00.004-05:00

Apparently there's a bit of a row over Robert Downey Jr. appearing in black face in an upcoming Ben Stiller film. Of course, the film's conceit is that Downey is portraying an actor who takes on a role written for a black actor:

Downey Jr plays a worthy Oscar-winning actor taking on a role originally written for a black actor, and rather than re-write the part, he goes method.

Clearing anticipating a backlash, Downey Jr told a US magazine: "If it's done right, it could be the type of role you called Peter Sellers to do 35 years ago. If you don't do it right, we're going to hell."

OK, so it could be worse. But while Downey has his gifts, he's no Peter Sellers. (Sellers, by the way, appeared as Asian in "Murder by Death", in which he spoofed the offensive Charlie Chan films.)

That said, I think it sounds rather funny. Stiller, however, seems to have been in a lot of stinkers lately, so I'm not sure if appearing in one of his projects is the greatest career move.

Guns and butter

2008-03-01T07:21:00.004-05:00

That liberal rag the New York Times has some good stuff on its op-ed pages today, one about our nation's gun laws -- or lack thereof -- and the other about its back-asswards farm policies.

From the former:

A short, smart public safety agenda would include:

¶ Requiring background checks for every gun purchase. That means closing the egregious loophole that permits unlicensed dealers to sell firearms at gun shows without conducting any background check.

¶ Limiting purchases to one gun a month in order to defeat traffickers who use straw purchasers to buy weapons in bulk and then resell them on the street.

¶ Once again banning the sale of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines like those used by the Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University killers. These magazines would have been outlawed under the Federal Assault Weapons Ban, but President Bush and the Republican Congress recklessly let it expire in 2004 to please the gun lobby.

And from the latter:

The commodity farm program effectively forbids farmers who usually grow corn or the other four federally subsidized commodity crops (soybeans, rice, wheat and cotton) from trying fruit and vegetables. Because my watermelons and tomatoes had been planted on “corn base” acres, the Farm Service said, my landlords were out of compliance with the commodity program.

I’ve discovered that typically, a farmer who grows the forbidden fruits and vegetables on corn acreage not only has to give up his subsidy for the year on that acreage, he is also penalized the market value of the illicit crop, and runs the risk that those acres will be permanently ineligible for any subsidies in the future. (The penalties apply only to fruits and vegetables — if the farmer decides to grow another commodity crop, or even nothing at all, there’s no problem.)

He was a friend of ours

2008-02-28T22:14:00.002-05:00

The late William Buckley Jr. on "The Sopranos" finale. (Hat tip to The House Next Door.)

"Roads? Where we're going we won't need any roads."

2008-02-28T22:03:00.002-05:00

The only things missing from tonight's "Lost" were a De Lorean, a flux capacitor and Crispin Glover.

Seriously, though, it was another great episode -- one of the most intense and poignant in the show's history. Then again, just about every episode that features Desmond is a good one.

"This is one doodle that can't be undid"

2008-02-17T11:42:00.005-05:00

Last night the wife and I saw "Juno." I sat through the first half-hour or so of the film thinking it was far too clever for its own good, with all the one-liners getting in the way of the story. And where were all the hip, witty girls who wanted to have sex with awkward boys when I was in high school?

But the film eventually found its rhythm, in large part thanks to a great ensemble cast led by Oscar nominee Ellen Page. Michael Cera was a delight in "Arrested Development" and his off-beat delivery and timing served him well here. J.K. Simmons (aka J.Jonah Jamison) and Allison Janey turned in warm, finely tuned performances as Juno's father and stepmother.

"Juno" invites comparisons to "Little Miss Sunshine", simply because the latter was last year's quirky, feel-good independent film that garnered major critical acclaim and several Oscar nominations. But "Juno", to me, is the superior film. As my wife noted, the cast of "Little Miss Sunshine" tried so hard to portray their characters' eccentricities that they lapsed into caricature. The characters in "Juno" seemed more genuine, despite the glibness that made unwanted teenage pregnancy out to be an inexhaustible source of shtick.

The film stumbled, however, when it came to Mark and Vanessa (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner), the couple who planned to adopt Juno's baby. Bateman got off some great lines (his timing and deadpan delivery are spot-on, which is probably why he clicked so well with Cera in "Arrested Development") and Garner gave a restrained and believable performance as a woman desperate to have a child. Still, they were stuck with two-dimensional characters, and the filmmakers never took the time to develop their relationship. Given the outcome of the film, that was a significant flaw -- though certainly not a fatal one.

Your government in action

2008-02-16T09:02:00.003-05:00

So for years, law enforcement turned a blind eye to neighborhood video poker machines, and now the state is pumping money to local police agencies to crack down on bars with machines that pay out. Funny, this get-tough approach is happening just as state-licensed casinos are opening across the state.

Tavern owners have a good point -- if county officials didn't think that poker machines were paying out, then why do they charge more to license the machines than they do to license pool tables and video games? (I'm a little mystified as to why video games and pool tables have to be licensed. If there an official reason, or is it just a naked attempt to squeeze more revenue out of business owners? That's a rhetorical question.)

Meanwhile, the state plans to sink $25 million into a soccer stadium in Delaware County. I hope that everyone in Pittsburgh who cheered when the state agreed to ante up for the new Penguins' arena can make it out to Chester for a soccer game. You paid for it; you might as well enjoy it.

Hodge podge

2008-02-13T19:53:00.001-05:00

This article suggests the long knives are out for the Clintons. Closer to home, the URA is finally lowering the boom on Bernardo Katz. (More here and here.)

With superdelegates like these...

2008-02-12T16:43:00.000-05:00

Ed Rendell doesn't think white Pennslyvanians are ready to vote for a black candidate for president, but Tony Norman would like to think otherwise. Congrats to Tony for getting linked by The New Republic.

Pittsburgh's bridges falling down

2008-02-10T10:01:00.000-05:00

Business on the South Side are taking a hit from the Birmingham Bridge closing. I wonder how much money they've lost? Given the sorry state of bridges and other infrastructure (remember this?) in Pennsylvania and nationwide, you'd have to multiply that figure by thousands -- at least -- to get some sense of the economic impact of this collective neglect. That would also give you some idea of the payoff were public funds invested in infrastructure repair, rather than in convention centers, arenas and luxury condos.

That's going to leave a mark

2008-02-10T09:56:00.001-05:00

Frank Rich delivers a smack-down to Hillary Clinton in today's New York Times.

What's eight inches among friends?

2008-02-09T08:04:00.000-05:00

I decided I'm cool with taxpayers picking up the tab for a new hockey arena after all. After all, what else are we going to spend that money on?

Gridiron ghosts

2008-02-02T08:11:00.000-05:00

Sports Illustrated has a good article this week about the battle between long-retired NFL players and the players union -- and in particular their grudge against Executive Director Gene Upshaw -- over retirement and disability benefits. The writer, Gary Smith, is sympathetic to Upshaw -- the former players' real beef, Smith implies, is with the owners -- but he certainly gives the old guard a fair hearing.

The article should quiet anyone who begrudges superstar athletes, particularly in the NFL, their astronomical salaries. Imagine working your whole life for a career that may very well be over within 10 years, and that could leave you crippled and addled by the time you turn 50? I'm not sure it's such a great deal.

Nooooooo!

2008-01-26T14:48:00.000-05:00

A fun collection of film clips.

Free money

2008-01-26T08:30:00.000-05:00

Am I the only one who doesn't feel quite right about these government rebate checks the federal government is about to hand out? Comments from Left Field wonders, like me, exactly where the money is coming from, though on the whole the writer is not opposed to the idea of priming the pump, so to speak.

I don't pretend to know enough to discern whether this is good economic policy. Yet the idea that the government is implicity encouraging Americans to go on a sprending spree just doesn't sit right. Don't get me wrong; I'm not troubled enough to send the money back, or donate it to charity even. But nor am I going to blow it all at Best Buy. The portion I get as a result of having a child is going into her 529 account (maybe the mutual fund managers will buy something with the commission) and the rest will probably go toward paying down the balance on a home equity loan.

So if this country spirals into a recession despite the election year gift from our rich Uncle Sam, I guess you can blame it all on me.

The jig is up

2008-01-21T15:39:00.000-05:00

A rather unlikely source is claiming the sports teams contribute little to cities' economies:

If the Sonics leave Seattle, the city's economy won't suffer and most people won't care.

That's not the tirade of some anti-arena activist; it's the Sonics' latest legal argument to try to get out of its KeyArena lease.

And it's exactly the opposite of what the Sonics have claimed when asking for taxpayer help to build a new arena.

The team made the argument in papers filed in U.S. District Court this week, seeking mediation or a speedy trial to allow the team to abandon city-owned KeyArena before 2010. In the documents, Sonics' attorneys dispute the city's contention that the team's departure would have a broad and hard-to-quantify impact.

"The financial issue is simple, and the city's analysts agree, there will be no net economic loss if the Sonics leave Seattle. Entertainment dollars not spent on the Sonics will be spent on Seattle's many other sports and entertainment options. Seattleites will not reduce their entertainment budget simply because the Sonics leave," the Sonics said in the court brief.

The Sonics also said they would produce a survey showing that 66 percent of Seattleites say the team's exit would make "no difference" in their lives, while only 12 percent said they'd be "much worse off."

Well, well, well. (Hat tip to The Sports Economist.)

Second chance? These kids aren't even getting a first chance

2008-01-19T13:28:00.000-05:00

Back when I was a reporter for the Trib, covering the city schools, district officials took me on a tour of South Vo-Tech to demonstrate that the building was dilapidated. The plan then was to build a brand-new vocational high school.

But that didn't happen, and they closed South Vo-Tech anyway. Regardless of what kind of vocational programs may exist in the other high schools, city school students deserve a dedicated vocational high school, and it's a crime that they don't have one. Kudos to Mark Rauterkus for keeping on top of this.

He's not even in the guy's weight class

2008-01-19T09:27:00.000-05:00

I don't blame Dan Onorato for not wanting to fight Jim Mitchell -- the man looks huge. (I mean that as a compliment, Mr. Mitchell, sir.) But give Onorato credit for some PR savvy by jumping on this story and turning it to his advantage. Still, I think Onorato will continue to be persona non grata in a lot of Allegheny County restaurants.

Which raises the question -- Where does the county executive eat these days? I'm guessing he's been ordering a lot of take-out.

In other news, I'm not a hockey lover, but I do love jumping on bandwagons, so I've been following the Penguins more closely than usual lately. Which is why I was alarmed to read this.

The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth

2008-01-14T20:44:00.000-05:00

Here's an interesting take on baseball's steroid scandal. Let's just say I agree more than I disagree:

Just once, I would like to hear an active athlete/entertainer surrounded by a steroid scandal rise up and be honest and unafraid the way retired Charles Barkley can be when he said that, if it meant the difference between being poor and rich, he would have popped illegal pills ''like Tic-Tacs'' and spent all his time sticking needles in his ample posterior.

Can you picture it? The scandalous swirl that envelops Marion Jones and Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens (but, inexplicably, not Shawne Merriman) being countered by one brave and defiant athlete standing in front of the cameras and saying the following to America:

``Yes, I used HGH. Used it all the time, illegally, under the supervision of trainers I pay well to keep me at optimum efficiency. My body is a business and a source of great profit in the entertainment industry, and I've hired the best mechanics to keep this machine running right. I'm sorry that is something you tolerate from the governor of California and Rambo but not me.

``What I do for a living hurts physically, and the hormone helps me heal. Craig Biggio destroys his stomach lining by taking 12 Advil a day. I did this, which is actually safer. I'm not sorry for that. I'm sorry you don't understand the world where I work. I'm sorry I'm surrounded by ignorant judgments and name-calling and sports McCarthyism. But I'm not sorry for being competitive and looking for advantages in medicine the same way I did in film work, scouting reports and training techniques.

The honeymoon is over

2008-01-06T14:08:00.000-05:00

I listened to about a half-hour's worth of sports radio this morning, and it sounded like more people were blaming Mike Tomlin's play calling than Ben Rothliesberger's poor first-half performance for the Steelers' heartbreaking loss to Jacksonville last night.

Two decisions stand out: The two-point conversion attempt from the 12 yard line following the holding penalty that wiped out Hines Ward's end zone reception, and the quarterback draw on 3rd-and-6 late in the fourth quarter with the Steelers protecting a one-point lead. A couple of callers accused Tomlin of "playing not to lose" rather than playing to win.

If that was the case, then Tomlin made what I would characterize as a Cowher-esque mistake. Wasn't one of the knocks on Cowher that he wasn't aggressive enough in putting games away? Then again, being overly conservative seems to be a characteristic of a lot of NFL coaches -- why else do so many punt on fourth down when the odds favor going for it?

During Super Bowl XXXVI, John Madden said that the Patriots, with 90 seconds left and no timeouts, should run out the clock and go into overtime. Instead, they drove down the field and got the game-winning field goal. For that matter, doesn't Bill Belichick go for it on fourth down even when he has a comfortable lead? Maybe that's why the Patriots are 16-0 and about to rendevous with history.

Zing!

2008-01-06T09:25:00.001-05:00

George Will won't make too many friends among Christian conservatives with this passage about Mike Huckabee:

Huckabee says "only one explanation" fits his Iowa success "and it's not a human one. It's the same power that helped a little boy with two fish and five loaves feed a crowd of 5,000 people." God so loves Huckabee's politics that He worked a Midwest miracle on his behalf?

Should someone so delusional control nuclear weapons? (link)

Will is conservative, of course, but this is one of several columns in which he heaps praise on Barack Obama:

Barack Obama, who might be mercifully closing the Clinton parenthesis in presidential history, is refreshingly cerebral amid this recrudescence of the paranoid style in American politics. He is the un-Edwards and un-Huckabee -- an adult aiming to reform the real world rather than an adolescent fantasizing mock-heroic "fights" against fictitious villains in a left-wing cartoon version of this country.

Jerry Orbach's dead, and this guy doesn't feel so good himself

2008-01-05T15:26:00.000-05:00

This blogger really likes "Law & Order", probably more than he should, but he thinks the show may be close to jumping the shark. (Do people still say that?) Frankly, I think the expiration date passed on that show long before season 18, but to each his own, I suppose. Click here for my thoughts on "L & O". (H/t to The House Next Door.)

Hollywood to New York: Drop Dead

2008-01-02T20:59:00.000-05:00

After seeing "I am Legend", I pondered the same question as this New York Times article: Why do filmmakers seem to take such joy in destroying New York City? This seems like the most obvious answer:

James Sanders, the author of “Celluloid Skyline,” about the history of New York in movies, ascribed the resonance of disaster scenes involving New York to the prospects for special-effects shock. “What would be the point of showing a demolished suburban street? You’d get the point but it just wouldn’t have the punch. You take the most familiar, iconic symbol of civic society in the world — a big city, and for Americans, that’s New York — and that’s where disaster is going to be the most powerful.” He added that New York serves as a yardstick — what architects would call a scale — that illustrates the magnitude for a disaster.

(Hat tip to The House Next Door.)

The last man on Earth

2007-12-30T17:54:00.000-05:00

On Thursday my wife and I saw "I Am Legend", a harrowing film that features an Oscar-worthy performance by Will Smith. (SPOILERS AHEAD.) Smith portrays Robert Neville, an Army scientist who believes that he may be the last human survivor of a virus that killed most of humanity and turned the rest into savage, vampire-like mutants. Smith spends his days scavenging for supplies in the ghost town that Manhattan has become, as well as hunting animals that now roam free on the island. He has turned his Washington Square home into a well-stocked fortress where, in the evenings, he uses his own blood to develop a cure that will transform the so-called "dark seekers" back into human beings.

Like Tom Hanks in "Castaway", Smith spends much of his screen time in "I am Legend" without another human actor to play off of. Hanks' character had a volleyball; Smith's Neville has a German shephard, Samantha, the family dog left behind by his daughter, Marley, as she and her mother were being flown out of New York as it was being placed under quarantine. (The relationship between Neville and his dog provide the film's most emotionally riveting scene, and some of Smith's best acting.) We learn about the virus and the fate of Neville's family in brief flashbacks; we get just enough backstory to follow the plot, but not so much that the film gets bogged down in exposition.

"I am Legend" is the third big-screen adaptation of the 1954 Richard Matheson novel of the same name, and a quick glance at Internet message boards reveal that devotees of the book are unhappy with the film's significant departures from its source material. (See here for my thoughts on comparing books to their film adaptations.) Some critics also complained that the film lost steam during its third act. The film held my wife and I in its grip until the very end (we sat, unmoving, even as the credits rolled) but we can see where the critics are coming from. There was, for example, a religious element introduced late in the movie that seemed a bit tacked on.

But some concessions have to be made to the film's story, which finds its central charcter robbed of human companionship for most of the film. His chatter with his dog is endearing, and the way he talks to the manequins that he has placed strategically in the abandoned stores he visits is humorous -- but once Sam is gone, we begin to understand that Neville is a man clinging tenously to sanity. His home, which maintains all the trappings of domesticity -- with the occassional newspaper clipping with headlines that fill in key parts of the backstory -- is actually a well-appointed tomb, a shrine to a life he cannot let go of.

It is only when he finally finds another normal person that we understand that Robert Neville has lost much of his own humanity, and it is all that more powerful when, just in time, he gets it back.

HRH

2007-12-24T12:21:00.000-05:00

Recently I watched "The Queen", an engaging film that was grounded by the strong, measured performance of Helen Mirren, who was awarded the Oscar for her efforts. The film's subject matter gave it a certain made-for-TV quality; nonetheless, I'd argue that it deserved the big-screen treatment, given how imperiled the monarchy was in the days following Diana's death as well as the larger questions raised by the film -- namely, what place does a monarchy have in a modern, democraticized society?

I found myself, by the time the movie ended, feeling a bit sorry for Queen Elizabeth II, grasping for the proper role to play in modern British life, duty-bound to defend the very traditions that were alienating her from her people. The film was far less sympathetic to her husband, Prince Philip, who was portrayed as arrogant and unfeeling, giving Elizabeth disasterous advice that furthered her isolation. (The late Queen Mother wasn't much of a help either.) Prince Charles came off as somewhat sniveling, wanting to do the right thing by his children and his ex-wife but unable to stand up to his mother and father.

Tony Blair was the hero, the man whose public statements about Diana struck just the right chord and who finally succeeded in convincing the queen to grieve as her subjects wanted. There was something sad about recalling the heady, early days of Blair's tenure as prime minister, given how it ended. Shortly before the film's end, in a meeting a couple of months after Diana's death, Elizabeth warns Blair that the press and the British people might just as easily turn on him someday too.

It's possible that the queen really did say that to Blair. After all, her reign had witnessed nine prime ministers before him, and she had no doubt learned how suddenly political lives can end. But it's hard not to think that the filmmakers threw in that line as a post-script to Blair's career. Blair was there to save the queen from herself. Too bad no one did the same for Blair.

Count my blessings? I'll have to take off my shoes and socks

2007-12-22T10:35:00.001-05:00

Recently my wife asked me to name my favorite non-traditional Christmas song. I said "Christmas in Hollis", by Run-DMC, then mumbled about until I finally had to concede that one of my favorite modern holiday tunes is "Do They Know It's Christmas" -- the 1986 benefit song by British artists performing as Band-Aid.

Sure, the song's synthesizer-driven pop sound and concern for starving Ethiopian children is sooo 1980s. (Though it's a far superior piece of music than its American counterpart, "We are the World".) And there's a patronizing, white-man's-burden quality to the song's charitable tone. (What! No snow in Africa! How can you have a bleedin' proper Christmas without any snow!)

Yet for all its cheesiness, the song gets to me. When Bono belts out "Well tonight thank God it's them instead of you," I belt it out, too. (Assuming I'm alone.) There's something about that lyric that's like a kick in the gut. How many times have we heard people say "There but for the grace of God go I", either as a figure of speech or as a sincere belief that they have been blessed by the Almighty. What many of us should be saying is "There but for being born to educated, middle-class parents in one of the most prosperous nations on Earth go I."

Trite as it sounds, the holidays offer the starkest reminder of this good fortune. There's nothing like pushing yourself away, stuffed, from the Christmas table, or loading up the car with your bounty of gifts, to make you realize that most of the problems in your life -- to borrow a phrase -- don't add up to a hill of beans. That's what that song says to me.

The more I think about it, though, the more I realize that my favorite modern holiday song is probably "The Christians and the Pagans" by Dar Williams, followed closely by "Fairy Tale of New York" as performed by the Pogues. In their own way, they each speak to loss and reconciliation, perfect themes for the holidays and the new year to come.

I'm sure I can think of a few more

2007-12-21T19:44:00.000-05:00

Here's a blog that documents the worst urban places.

I go a-walkin'...

2007-12-20T18:50:00.000-05:00

This web site shows you how walkable your neighborhood is. According to the Post-Gazette, it leaves a little something to be desired.

The richest man in town...

2007-12-16T11:14:00.001-05:00

Annie Korzen, in an essay that appears today in the Trib, doesn't think "It's a Wonderful Life" is so wonderful after all:

Poor old George takes the tedious job in the shabby loan office, lives in the abandoned old house at 320 Sycamore St. that he always hated and watches life pass him by. Meanwhile, his younger brother, Harry, and his pal, Sam Wainwright, go off and enjoy the adventures he yearned for. When George winds up suicidal, Clarence the angel is dispatched to remind him of the value of his personal sacrifice.

As the town rallies around the long-suffering George to rescue him from financial ruin, he finally realizes that what really counts in life is family and friends. I'll buy that.

But Harry and Sam -- those two guys who left town and became a war hero and entrepreneur -- also seem to have found family and friends. Why must we choose between the two? Why can't we find love and also pursue our passions? (link)

I've always felt that despite the uplift at the end, "It's a Wonderful Life" is a terrbly sad film. Sure, George Bailey gets to avoid jail, go on running the building and loan with his functionally retarded uncle, and learns that the good people of Bedford Falls know how to return a favor. But he's still stuck in the town he longed to leave, living in a musty old house in which he and his family appear to be squatters, hoping that Mr. Potter dies before the old miser finds another way to screw him over. That's why I always enjoyed Saturday Night Live's alternative ending, in which George learns that Potter took the money, and he exacts his bloody revenge. ("You made one mistake Potter. You double-crossed me and you left me alive.")

On the other hand, George has no one to blame but himself for the course of his life, and perhaps that's the true lesson of the film -- that each of us bears ultimate responsibility for the choices we make. After all, it was only his own sense of responsibility and moral obligation that caused George to stick around and take over his father's business, and his own selflessness that led him to release Harry from his obligation to run the building and loan. Those were noble choices, but like all choices, they had their consequences. In the end, George has to live with them.

We've seen this movie before

2007-12-16T09:32:00.000-05:00

Jack Markowitz is disappointed, though not surprised, that Pennsylvania hands out tax breaks to filmmakers:

The new Pennsylvania pattern is that nothing seems to get built, or even relocated, without politicians leaping in to "help" with your money. (link)

A million here, a million there, and pretty soon we're talking about serious money

2007-12-14T21:27:00.000-05:00

Lo and behond, the David L. Lawrence Convention Center continues to bleed red ink:

The authority, which owns local sports venues and parking garages, has failed to earn a profit at the Downtown convention center. Operating the building is projected to create a $3.8 million loss in 2008. Revenues are projected to reach $5.9 million, but expenses would be $9.8 million.

Of course, people like me have been criticizing the convention center almost from the moment it was built. The reality, though, is that we are stuck with it. So what's to be done? In my opinion, we need to spend just enough money to keep the building safe, functional and attractive -- but not a penny more. That means no publicly funded convention center hotel, an idea whose time will never come.

It's where Kennywood is

2007-12-12T18:37:00.000-05:00

A while ago, Jason over at Tube City discussed what he perceived was the shabby treatment that Kennywood Park has received at the hands of the West Mifflin Borough government. Here is an excerpt:

I don't think that local government should be in the business of real estate development (for more information, see also, "City of Pittsburgh, bankruptcy of" or "City of Pittsburgh, failure of Fifth and Forbes"), but I have to wonder if better zoning and traffic and infrastructure improvements along "Kennywood Boulevard" would attract some private investment.

To put it another way: Since 1999, West Mifflin has collected $3.5 million in tax revenue directly from the sale of tickets at Kennywood. Does someone from West Mifflin care to show me the $3.5 million in zoning code changes, tax incentives for commercial development, and improved signals and lighting on Kennywood Boulevard that have been made in that period of time?

Or is the borough balancing its budget (including the cost of that spiffy $2 million three-story municipal hall on Lebanon Church Road, formerly a taxable privately-owned office building) on the back of its only tourist attraction and one of its few claims to fame?

I may be way off-base here. Perhaps there are more costs to the taxpayers of West Mifflin caused by Kennywood than I'm aware of. Perhaps West Mifflin is acting solely in the best interests of its taxpayers. As a West Mifflin taxpayer myself, I sure hope so.

Jason raises some interesting points. I don't believe that governments should coddle large employers, but nor do I think they should exploit them. Personally, I don't understand why West Mifflin wouldn't want to spruce up the corridor leading into Kennywood. Think of the thousands of people who drive into the community each year to go to the park, and think of the impression of West Mifflin they are left with.

My wife and I grew up in Westmoreland County, and we know that many people there regard Kennywood as something of an oasis in the midst of urban decay -- a perception that I suspect is not limited to the hinterlands. Is that really the image West Mifflin wants to project?

By his bootstraps

2007-12-12T18:28:00.000-05:00

The New York Times profiles Don Barden.

What's Spanish for "Kennywood's open?"

2007-12-11T17:13:00.001-05:00

Other bloggers are all over the sale of Kennywood to a Spanish amusement firm. Jason offers some good analysis of the sale and its import, and Chris Briem tries to put into perspective the sale of a beloved local icon to a foreign concern.

For my part, I just hope the new owners don't get wind of the monument to the U.S.S. Maine in West Park.

Last call

2007-12-07T16:35:00.000-05:00

Jason thinks the arguments against the drink tax are nothing but foam. As you can see from my comment, I'm conflicted, but it's probably the lesser of all evils, given the situation.

Not that it matters anymore, but...

2007-12-07T16:30:00.000-05:00

The boys at the Sports Economist continue to poke holes in the arguments in favor of throwing tax dollars at pro teams:

Sports economists agree: sports stadiums are not the boon of economic development that they are often portrayed to be and, thankfully, public money has not been as easy to come by in many instances. That's why some recent public financing packages include plans to have ballpark villages developed as a part of an agreement for public financing. Otherwise the secondary development is not likely to happen.

The development is unlikely to occur because the returns for the development do not justify private investment. Otherwise we'd see a lot more "spontaneous" economic development surrounding stadiums. In other words, the people who frequent stadiums don't really care all that much about shopping/bars/restaurants/condos etc. around ballparks. They want to go to the event, do what they do there (get their private benefits), get in their cars, and go home. So politicians are seemingly more resistant, thankfully, to giving subsidies just for stadiums by themselves. But package in some secondary development (which, if it draws any extra economic activity to the site, will probably draw it from elsewhere in the region) with the subsidy request and see if you can get the necessary votes.

But if private financing isn't forthcoming for the housing and business development, is it really that good of an investment for the government? In other words, what are the public goods associated with the ballpark villages?

Yeah, that's a good idea

2007-12-05T17:57:00.000-05:00

Well, I guess there is something to be said for swagger:

Safety Anthony Smith not only thinks the Steelers have a chance to beat the undefeated New England Patriots Sunday, he guarantees it.

"We're going to win,'' Smith said today after practice. "Yeah, I can guarantee a win.'' ...

Smith added a little more lumber to the fire when he said New England's receivers haven't been hit the way they will be hit on Sunday.

"They said Baltimore was their most physical game but I think we hit harder than Baltimore, so they haven't seen nothing like us yet.

Bing!

2007-11-24T14:24:00.000-05:00

It's been a long time since I discussed something truly important -- television. One of the few shows that I watch regularly these days is "Heroes", and one of the joys of this season -- which has been uneven at times -- is Stephen Tobolowsky's portrayal of the enigmatic and silver-tongued Bob, one of the men who runs The Company.

If you don't watch "Heroes", you'd probably recognize Tobolowsky as Ned Ryerson, the obnoxious insurance salesman in "Groundhog Day" who accosts Phil Connors (Bill Murray) on Connors' way to Gobbler's Knob. ("I dated your sister Mary Pat a couple of times until you told me not to anymore.") I've seen Tobolowsky dozens of times in movies and on TV, but rarely has he been given a chance to shine as he has this year on "Heroes."

It seems that one thing great television shows have in common these days is their ability to craft good roles for character actors like Tobolowsky, or for actors whose best days seemed long behind them. Tobolowsky himself had a nice turn on "Deadwood" as the weasely politician Hugo Jarry. "Deadwood" also featured Brad Dourif in arguably his most affecting role since "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", as well as Jeffrey Jones and Powers Boothe among others. "The Sopranos" had Robert Loggia and John Heard, who turned in an exquisitely fine-tuned performance as the corrupt and self-loathing Det. Vin Makazian during the show's first season.

Perhaps one of the best examples is Terry O'Quinn's role as John Locke on "Lost". Locke is the show's most engaging character, and O'Quinn is consistently its best actor. And yet, what did O'Quinn do before "Lost"? He had dozens of minor roles in which he more or less disappeared into the scenery, and a lead role here and there in B-movies. (He had several recurring television roles with which I'm not familar.) But on "Lost", he's all but indispensible.

What is responsible for this trend? It could be mere necessity: In addition to five broadcast networks, several basic cable channels -- plus HBO and Showtime -- now have original series, so producers need to rely on a deeper pool of talent than ever before. A lot of these shows are character-driven, with ensemble casts, so they need actors to fill a range of character types.

I also suspect we are seeing the influence of independent film directors like Quentin Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson, not to mention the Coen brothers and Wes Anderson. Tarantino is famous for reviving the career of John Travolta and bringing out of hibernation actors such as Pam Grier and Robert Forster. Paul Thomas Anderson has given great roles to Philip Baker Hall, Burt Reynolds, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Luis Guzman. Wes Anderson and the Coens have their own stable of quirky performers who make their films consistently entertaining.

Of course, much of the movie industry remains focused on churning out blockbuster films, which require blockbuster names. Just as some of the best screenwriting these days can be found television, so to some of the best and most inventive acting.

UPDATE: Thanks to the folks over at The House Next Door for linking to me.

That's Australian for a thumpin', mate

2007-11-24T11:41:00.000-05:00

Australian voters put a smackdown on Prime Minister John Howard, one of President Bush's most stalwart international supporters. The opposition Labor Party didn't just run against the war in Iraq:

Rudd has named global warming as his top priority, and his signing of the Kyoto Protocol will leave the U.S. as the only industrialized country not to have joined it. (link)

Just how much more isolated can the United States become?

The song remains the same

2007-11-23T13:14:00.000-05:00

The Sports Economist points yet again to the failure of taxpayer-financed stadiums to spur economic development, despite the promises of local officials and team owners:

The crazy thing about the AT&T Center is that the Spurs are claiming it is obsolete just five years after a significant renovation, and are demanding a new, publicly financed arena to replace it. (link)

Too smart for its own good

2007-11-22T10:27:00.000-05:00

I think I found this on 2 Political Junkies:

My other blog is even smarter.

They can have my camera when they pry it from my cold, dead hands

2007-11-21T19:47:00.001-05:00

This blog is documenting government abuses against the right to take photographs in public spaces. (h/t to The House Next Door.)

The truthiness ticket

2007-11-21T15:13:00.000-05:00

The Westminster College Mock Convention -- which I discussed here -- nominated John Edwards for president and Stephen Colbert for VP.

Speaking of Edwards, the New York Times dissects the rocky relationship he had with John Kerry in 2004. It is truly depressing reading.

Third World America

2007-11-19T19:30:00.000-05:00

Nah, America doesn't need national health insurance:

It was 3 a.m. at the Wise County Fairgrounds in Virginia — Friday, July 20, 2007 — the start of a rainy Appalachian morning. Outside the gates, people lay in their trucks or in tents pitched along the grassy parking lot, waiting for their chance to have their medical needs treated at no charge — part of an annual three-day “expedition” led by a volunteer medical relief corps called Remote Area Medical.

The group, most often referred to as RAM, has sent health expeditions to countries like Guyana, India, Tanzania and Haiti, but increasingly its work is in the United States, where 47 million people — more than 15 percent of the population — live without health insurance. (link)

Good, but...

2007-11-18T10:28:00.000-05:00

I learn via The Parkway Left that the URA has decided to foreclose on the Beechview properties owned by Bernardo Katz, whose follies in Beechview I discussed in this post. The Parkway Left believes there may be some political shenanigans afoot, which leaves me with little faith that things will get done right in Beechview.

Running from his record

2007-11-16T21:41:00.000-05:00

I wrote a while back that the Massachusetts health care reform plan would boost Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. And it turns out that it's succeeded in covering most Massachusetts residents who previously were uninsured. So why, asks Andrew Sullivan, is Romney not campaigning on this?

Because Romney is not yet running for president; he's merely running for the GOP nomination. I failed to realize that Romney would repudiate just about everything he ever believed in to curry favor with social conservatives -- and when it comes to health care, economic conservatives as well. A moderate Democrat could easily -- a relative term -- capture his or her party's nomination. Not so a moderate Republican.

The poster child

2007-11-11T09:35:00.000-05:00

The Trib turns a critical eye on the Allegheny Conference in an article on the front of today's paper. Perhaps the most significant passage:

If the conference ever starts to accomplish the business-oriented agenda it claims to support, it could help the region to recover, several urban-policy experts contend.

Cutting business taxes and regulations remain the best ways to expand an economy and jobs, according to John Charles, head of the free-market Cascade Policy Institute in Portland, Ore.

Portland is a darling of urban planners for its strict zoning, regional government and subsidized mass transit. But Charles thinks the Portland region is wasting money by expanding its streetcar network and unveiling a $57 million Swiss-style aerial tram.

"You don't try to pick winners and losers," said the University of Pittsburgh graduate. "You don't try to have this grand vision. The nice thing about cutting the corporate income tax is, everybody benefits. You're not cutting a deal for a handful of people."

Pittsburgh has done a good job of promoting itself, said Joel Kotkin, economic and social forecaster with the Milken Institute, an economic research group in Santa Monica, Calif. Yet now it needs to work on substance.

"Pittsburgh's sort of the poster child of out-of-scale ideas," said Kotkin. "Huge airports, fancy convention center, the stupid light-rail to the stadium -- that kind of stuff. Stuff that I think is pretty secondary but apparently has support from the top of the business community.

"The city gets extremely good press in many ways nationally, but when you look at the performance, you say, 'I don't get it.' The city has made some progress, but a lot other cities have made a lot more." (link)

In sickness and health (but mostly sickness)

2007-11-10T13:17:00.000-05:00

Paul Krugman explodes some health care myths. As the presidential campaign gets serious, it's important not to let opponents of universal health insurance define the debate.

A glutton for punishment

2007-11-08T22:08:00.001-05:00

Chris Briem invites DeSantis supporters to face some unpleasant truths. They don't take it very well.

"What was God before he was a Christian?"

2007-11-07T19:32:00.000-05:00

A letter to the editor in the Trib today invites disgruntled Presbyterians to join the Roman Catholic Church, "the one Jesus started 2007 years ago."

Well, forgive this Protestant for being a bit sensitive on this point, but that ain't how it happened. The Roman Catholic Church essentially was started 300 years after Christ's death, when one interpretation of Jesus' life -- and one set of scriptures -- was sanctioned and the others branded heresy.

Jesus was Jewish, a faith that many of his disciples continued to practice after his death, until their allegiance to his teachings and their desire to spread his word to Gentiles drove them away from Judaism. Even in the four "orthodox" gospels -- none written by Jesus' contemporaries -- there is scant evidence that Jesus intended to start a new religion.

As for the letter writer's contention that Catholic doctrine never changes, well, how then to explain celibacy, a rule that has been in effect for priests for only about 1,000 years or so? What about the Immaculate Conception, which has been official doctrine for only about 150 years? Can't the pope change doctrine anytime he pleases?

It's hard for me to believe that Jesus would be terribly pleased with any of the churches that have been formed in his name. This is a man, the gospels tells us, who flagrantly violated the laws of his own religion, because he believed those laws were perversions of God's will and had become instruments of oppression.

And so how do we choose to worship him? By creating byzantine institutions governed by arbitrary rules that alienate us from one another, and from the love of God.

We have seen the president, and he is us

2007-11-06T21:05:00.001-05:00

The Post-Gazette's Early Returns column brings this quote to my attention:

H. L. Mencken: As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their hearts desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.

The grand and glorious day has arrived, Mr. Mencken.

This just in

2007-11-06T20:47:00.000-05:00

Election results are up online. Ravenstahl is ahead.

Poll watching

2007-11-06T20:39:00.000-05:00

WPXI is quoting the Ravenstahl campaign as saying that the mayor is certified as a poll watcher. Allegheny County Democratic Chairman Jim Burns acknowledged that it may have been questionable for the mayor's wife to be wearing an "I Like Luke" sticker. Bill Green and David Johnson read the portions of the election code cited by Ravenstahl and believe that the mayor's intepretation may be correct.

"Possibly much ado about nothing," Johnson said.

Hey, is there an election today?

2007-11-06T19:38:00.000-05:00

The mayor was photographed today inside a polling place not his own, in apparent violation of election law. See Agent Ska's pictures. (Via The Burgher.)

Meanwhile, Judy O'Connor recorded an endorsement message for Luke Ravenstahl. I suppose it will depend on Ravenstahl's margin of victory whether he continues to stand on O'Connor's coffin for the next two years. (Maybe he will borrow a page from the Carbolic Smoke Ball.)

The best laid plans

2007-11-04T08:25:00.000-05:00

Mike Madison discusses a Cato Institute critique of Portland's growth restrictions. Some time ago at my other blog, I reviewed Robert Bruegmann's book "Sprawl: A Compact History", in which the author discusses Portland at length.