Outstanding work, boys! Coco, Youkie, and Papi all got big hits in this series. Could the Sox be back on-track, despite an injury to Curt Schilling and a very slow start by Manny?
In the 90's, Boston always had trouble with National League opponents. Tonight, they improve their interleague record to 10-5, similar to the Yankees, Angels, A's, and Tigers. This weekend's series in San Diego will be another big test of just how good these Sox are.
That's a nice goal. But the practical question is: where would it be? Would it be just the West Bank? Or maybe the West bank and a strip of land to Gaza? If the Palestinians are concentrated in two separate areas within Israel, and Israeli settlements were allowed to grow aggressively in-between them, then how can there be a separate Palestinian state?
[Forgive me for now trying to summarize an immense problem in a blog entry, but here goes.]
The answer is: There cannot be a separate Palestinian state. It is too late to remove the settlements that are in the way. And the Palestinians would be trapped on a small patch of land and be refugees in their own country. There has to be another solution.
After 20 years of thinking and reading about this, I think I have the answer. It is a solution that is just beginning to receive serious attention after years in leftist circles among both Israeli and Arab scholars. It is the single state solution, not the two-state goal which politicians talk publicly about, but can never achieve.
Israelis would have to give-up their Orthodox / Zionist-dominated politics in favor of a secular government (an immense feat in itself). But they would not have to give-up an inch of land or any national security. They would not have to give-up any of their religious or national identity. And they wouldn't need a wall between themselves and the Palestinians, which clearly hurts both sides.
Palestinians would then be able to integrate into Israeli politics and the relatively strong Israeli economy. The Arabs would receive proper political representation, engage in free and fair elections, and to fly their flag alongside the Star of David in a shared capital of Jerusalem.
Sounds nuts? Yeah. But in my opinion, it is the only way to achieve peace. The PLO wanted their own state (among other things), but Jordan wouldn't allow it. Then Hamas wanted the destruction of Israel, but they failed as all terrorists ultimately do.
I know it is easy for me to express what Israel should do to secure peace. It would be far more difficult for Israelis to do it themselves. The ball is in their court.
The late, Palestinian scholar, Edward Said, constantly said that the first step Israel needs to take is to declare its borders to the UN. In my opinion, Israel should keep the Golan heights and declare its borders as they stand today. Then work to change the political system to accommodate the Palestinians. It would take two generations to take-hold. But the goal of living in a country where the threat of war with the other side does not exist -the goal expressed by former militant Yitzhak Rabin before he was assassinated- is a goal worth working very hard to achieve. It can be done. And it would set an amazing example of peace building (and nation re-building) in world history. Simply put, both the Israelis and Palestinians are in need of a reconstruction era.
Virginia Tilley has written an excellent book on the proposal. And so has Ali Abunimah. And for a thorough review of how the 'roadmap' to a two-state solution is failing, see Tanya Reinhart's "The Road to Nowhere: Israel/Palestine Since 2003."
And of course, there isn't much that can be done about it now. But Henry Waxman sheds light on a very important abuse of technology that highlights how secretive the Bush White Hose has been.
Well maybe something can be done. If Waxman can connect the dots, they might lead to two important figures - RNC chairman Ken Mehlman, and White House political strategist, Karl Rove.
Most of these e-mails were sent from the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign domain, GWB43.com. And since the campaign still exists in an active office thanks to federal laws concerning finance and compliance, the 2004 Bush campaign might be investigated by Mr. Waxman.
Here is the text of Waxman's report this morning:
Monday, June 18, 2007
Administration Oversight, White House Use of Private E-mail Accounts
The Use of RNC E-Mail Accounts by White House OfficialsThe Oversight Committee has been investigating whether White House officials violated the Presidential Records Act by using e-mail accounts maintained by the Republican National Committee and the Bush Cheney ‘04 campaign for official White House communications. This interim staff report provides a summary of the evidence the Committee has received to date, along with recommendations for next steps in the investigation.
The information the Committee has received in the investigation reveals:
* The number of White House officials given RNC e-mail accounts is higher than previously disclosed. In March 2007, White House spokesperson Dana Perino said that only a “handful of officials” had RNC e-mail accounts. In later statements, her estimate rose to “50 over the course of the administration.” In fact, the Committee has learned from the RNC that at least 88 White House officials had RNC e-mail accounts. The officials with RNC e-mail accounts include Karl Rove, the President’s senior advisor; Andrew Card, the former White House Chief of Staff; Ken Mehlman, the former White House Director of Political Affairs; and many other officials in the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Communications, and the Office of the Vice President.
* White House officials made extensive use of their RNC e-mail accounts. The RNC has preserved 140,216 e-mails sent or received by Karl Rove. Over half of these e-mails (75,374) were sent to or received from individuals using official “.gov” e-mail accounts. Other heavy users of RNC e-mail accounts include former White House Director of Political Affairs Sara Taylor (66,018 e-mails) and Deputy Director of Political Affairs Scott Jennings (35,198 e-mails). These e-mail accounts were used by White House officials for official purposes, such as communicating with federal agencies about federal appointments and policies.
* There has been extensive destruction of the e-mails of White House officials by the RNC. Of the 88 White House officials who received RNC e-mail accounts, the RNC has preserved no e-mails for 51 officials. In a deposition, Susan Ralston, Mr. Rove’s former executive assistant, testified that many of the White House officials for whom the RNC has no e-mail records were regular users of their RNC e-mail accounts. Although the RNC has preserved no e-mail records for Ken Mehlman, the former Director of Political Affairs, Ms. Ralston testified that Mr. Mehlman used his account “frequently, daily.” In addition, there are major gaps in the e-mail records of the 37 White House officials for whom the RNC did preserve e-mails. The RNC has preserved only 130 e-mails sent to Mr. Rove during President Bush’s first term and no e-mails sent by Mr. Rove prior to November 2003. For many other White House officials, the RNC has no e-mails from before the fall of 2006.
* There is evidence that the Office of White House Counsel under Alberto Gonzales may have known that White House officials were using RNC e-mail accounts for official business, but took no action to preserve these presidential records. In her deposition, Ms. Ralston testified that she searched Mr. Rove’s RNC e-mail account in response to an Enron-related investigation in 2001 and the investigation of Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald later in the Administration. According to Ms. Ralston, the White House Counsel’s office knew about these e-mails because “all of the documents we collected were then turned over to the White House Counsel’s office.” There is no evidence, however, that White House Counsel Gonzales initiated any action to ensure the preservation of the e-mail records that were destroyed by the RNC.
The Presidential Records Act requires the President to “take all such steps as may be necessary to assure that the activities, deliberations, decisions, and policies that reflect the performance of his constitutional, statutory, or other official or ceremonial duties are adequately documented … and maintained as Presidential records.” To implement this legal requirement, the White House Counsel issued clear written policies in February 2001 instructing White House staff to use only the official White House e-mail system for official communications and to retain any official e-mails they received on a nongovernmental account.
The evidence obtained by the Committee indicates that White House officials used their RNC e-mail accounts in a manner that circumvented these requirements. At this point in the investigation, it is not possible to determine precisely how many presidential records may have been destroyed by the RNC. Given the heavy reliance by White House officials on RNC e-mail accounts, the high rank of the White House officials involved, and the large quantity of missing e-mails, the potential violation of the Presidential Records Act may be extensive.
There are several next steps that should be pursued in the investigation into the use of RNC e-mail accounts by White House officials. First, the records of federal agencies should be examined to assess whether they may contain some of the White House e-mails that have been destroyed by the RNC. The Committee has already written to 25 federal agencies to inquire about the e-mail records they may have retained from White House officials who used RNC and Bush Cheney ’04 e-mail accounts. Preliminary responses from the agencies indicate that they may have preserved official communications that were destroyed by the RNC.
Second, the Committee should investigate what former White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales knew about the use of political e-mail accounts by White House officials. If Susan Ralston’s testimony to the Committee is accurate, there is evidence that Mr. Gonzales or counsels working in his office knew in 2001 that Karl Rove was using his RNC e-mail account to communicate about official business, but took no action to preserve Mr. Rove’s official communications.
Third, the Committee may need to issue compulsory process to obtain the cooperation of the Bush Cheney ’04 campaign. The campaign has informed the Committee that it provided e-mail accounts to 11 White House officials, but the campaign has unjustifiably refused to provide the Committee with basic information about these accounts, such as the identity of the White House officials and the number of e-mails that have been preserved.
But I fear the Mets will only be able to win one game in the Bronx. I just hope they don't get swept. It only takes one win to change momentum. Their best chance is probably Saturday afternoon when they have Glavine on the mound.
The Yankees are going for 10 wins in a row tonight. Didn't I say that was not likely? Open mouth, insert foot.
I will be at Saturday's game, in fact. And I will wear this. Vamos Mets! Vamos Medias Rojas! Beat those Gigantes! Barry Cheated! Blah blah.
UPDATE, July 10th: I have been getting a lot of hits from people searching for this T-shirt, so let me point you in the right direction. You can get it at the MLB.com shop, or better still, here through Amazon:
Mets Puerto Rican Flag T-Shirt
...Thanks to the series finale of The Sopranos. But then I found this. I'm very late in coming to like The Family Guy. I had no idea that the fictional setting is in Rhode Island. This is freakin' great! And yeah, that's Adam West. But his joke is lost on me. And I'm usually pretty smaaat.
My buddy, Archtype, informed me that Steve Smith, Journey's drummer since 1979, shares his hometown of Brockton with me. maybe I knew that in 1983, but I certainly forgot.
Oh, I can't resist now. Here is Journey performing Don't Stop Believin' live in 1981. Not only is it one of the most loved rock anthems ever, it could be the most purchased song never to peak at # 1 on the Billboard charts (it peaked at # 9, but has sold millions of copies year after year since). And it keeps coming back. South Park. Laguna Beach. The 2005 White Sox. And now the Sopranos finale. It's a standard.
Now this story, just published, is factual. It reviews the net worth and 2006 income of some members of Congress. But it is just me, or does it report too much on Democratic members of Congress, and not enough on Republican members? I'm just asking.
The AP story mentions that Dennis Hastert is getting a salary cut this year. Whatever.
What about the net worth of John McCain? There's no mention of him. And although the article goes in-depth about the winery and millions held by Mr. and Mrs. Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi is barely in the top ten list of wealthiest congresspeople.
Does John Kerry ring a bell? How about Elizabeth Dole? There's no mention of them, either.
Pelosi is getting such a bad rap, in my opinion. Then again, she doesn't help herself when she has her million grandchildren surround her speaker's chair. Lower the ego and the attention grabbers, Nancy.
He's there to stay through December 2008. Fine. Morale at the DOJ didn't really matter to me anyway. Not personally.
And who cares if defense attorneys are now using the USA termination scandal as grounds for appeal against guilty verdicts? So justice will be derailed here and there. We were warned about this happening. Whatever.
We thought we had him. In the pre-Bush world, he would have been roadkill. But this is not that world anymore.
Thanks to YouTube political video guru, NancyPelosi, we have videos of Doan's testimony to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The hearing lasted from 10am until about 2pm. Cold beers go out to Massachusetts congressman John F. Tierney and Iowa congressman Bruce Braley. Nice work, gentlemen. You nailed her as much as you could in 15 combined minutes of questioning.
Henry Waxman opens the hearing.
Waxman explains that this is not a partisan witch hunt.
Tierney! Tierney! Tierney! He did a great job. A son of Salem. He gets a cold beer from MLH. Symbolically, anyway.
Waxman's turn. Inconsistencies are illuminated.
Bruce Braley's second and final round of questions. Outstanding work. It was clear that Lurita Doan and the Republicans on the committee were sharing the same talking points. Braley clears the record that Administrator Doan met with the Republican congressmen prior to the hearing. Despite spending some time on preparation, the Republicans on the committee (led by Tom Davis) called the hearing a waste of time. They repeatedly charged the democrats of harassing an African-American Republican woman for no other reason than who she is. And also they made fun of the hearings, mocked Chairman Waxman, and charged him of not taking their investigations of Clinton fundraising seriously 10 years ago (they mentioned John Huang). Administrator Doan seemed to be playing with the Democratic congressmen all day. Doan occasionally took mild shots at the questions she received. Her use of the word 'abusing' here is a case in point. She heard Mr. Braley's question the first time. And the key moment in the entire hearing is here. Braley points out that the bulk of the OSC investigation is complete. He asks Doan to confirm that the GSA hosting of the PowerPoint presentation was a violation of the Hatch Act. Thanks to his very quick thinking, he states on the record that Administrator Doan is handed a document and confers with her counsel while the question is being asked. I have never seen that done so swiftly in a congressional hearing before. Score a lot of points for Bruce Braley. A cold beer for you, sir.
Waxman closes the hearing. He points out that Administrator Doan's testimony on March 28th was not complete. She witheld information from Congress that she later testified before the OSC. Waxman asks Doan to resign, which won't happen, of course.
You can tell Lurita A. Doan about how you feel about her lies and her wasteful spending of taxpayer dollars and misuse of federal real estate and resources. She's at lurita.doan@gsa.gov
Image ripped from Crooks and Liars.
Well, I've been saying this since March. According to a report from the Bush-appointed (and independant) Office of Special Counsel (OSC), Lurita Doan broke the law. She arranged for a White House congressional election strategy presentation to be shown in a conference room at GSA headquarters during lunchtime on a business day (Friday, January 26th). That's a mouthful, but it means that she knowingly or unknowingly violated the Hatch Act, which forbids government resources or government employee time to be used on behalf of any political party. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform has been all over this, and has investigated Doan's actions since January 1 2007.
There are witnesses who have sworn under oath that following the PowerPoint presentation, Ms. Doan asked the 35 other people in the room, "How can we help our candidates?" "We" would be the GSA, and "our" would be the GOP.
Chairman Henry Waxman has invited Lurita Doan to testify again to explain the results of the OSC investigation. She will appear before the committee at 10:00 EDT. I'm surprised she has agreed to return, given how disastrous and potentially incriminating her first appearance was in March. Maybe that's just how arrogant GOP political appointees act. She was appointed as head of the GSA in May 2006 after she and her husband donated tens of thousands of dollars to the RNC and other Republican party groups and elections. As I wrote in my e-mail to her, she was on the job for less than a year and was intimately involved in two scandals. Well done!
Down with Tyranny has a great summary on the latest developments. The presentation that Administrator Doan arranged to be shown was produced by the White House political office (Karl Rove's office). We can count on Henry Waxman reminding his colleagues of Rove's role this morning.
If she is really going to appear before Waxman's committee and repeat that she didn't realize she was violating the Hatch Act because she was too busy opening and replying to 200 e-mails on her blackberry, then this is going to be fun.
Recall how Doan was burned by Congressman Braley in March:
The hearing is on! See it here if you have Windows Media Player:
http://play.rbn.com/play.asx?url=cspan/cspan/wmlive/cspan3v.asf&proto=mms?mswmext=.asx
Fiction author and legal journalist Stephen Elliott explains how and why Paris Hilton has drawn valuable attention to the inequalities of the California justice system.
Paris, The Hero
Stephen Elliott
The Huffington Post
Mon Jun 11, 8:35 PM ETSometimes I think Paris Hilton is a hero. I watch the news and I see the willowy blonde, staring from the squad car window, face like a painting. Then I hear about over-crowded jails, a corrupt Los Angeles Sheriff, a two-tiered legal system. It doesn't bother me that it takes Paris Hilton to draw attention to these issues. Well, it does, but this is America and you have to accept certain things.
If anything, the Paris Hilton story breaks all the rules of celebrity journalism in that it is actually about something. It's about money and the kind of privilege money can buy, the kind of things that aren't supposed to be for sale, like justice. It's about the California penal system, broken under Pete Wilson and Gray Davis regimes where cheap slogans like "tough on crime" took over the space reserved for intelligent analysis and were rammed through the state legislature or put on ballot initiatives where they became law. Pete Wilson was going to run for president and Gray Davis' prime constituency was the prison guards union followed by the victims rights groups. If you were to visit a prison like the LA County Prison in Lancaster you would see medium security prisoners, most drug offenders, stuck in endless bunks in what was supposed to be recreational areas. I visited Lancaster in 2005. There were only a few feet before the walls, a bank of television screens, open toilets, guard with a gun walking on a metal plank twenty feet above. The bunks were in two or three tiers and the prisoners were only outside one hour a day. These people are serving years in the most horrendous, over-crowded conditions imaginable. And it is costing tax payers huge sums of money.
There is a PR campaign underway to paint Paris Hilton's punishment as harsh, as if she was being penalized for being a celebrity. Sheriff Baca even pointed to her harsh sentence when defending his decision to release her after three days. In fact, the sentence isn't harsh. This was not her first time being pulled over driving recklessly since her license had been suspended. She was given repeated warnings and pulled over in at least three separate counties. She had a signed document in her glove compartment stating she knew she was not allowed to drive. She had the resources to hire a full-time driver. Most people in her situation are forced to drive on a suspended license just to get to work, thanks to General Motors early dismantling of the LA public transit system. There are those that say the Sheriff was within his jurisdiction to release Paris early, but surely he could have found another prisoner to release, one whose sentence didn't specifically state that she could not serve any part of her sentence under house arrest.
This is about class warfare of the kind the rich have been waging on the poor. This is about separate and unequal. This is about a generation of poor stripped of political power in jail or on parole. And Paris Hilton has got America talking about these things.
Paris has become an unlikely hero. She didn't even try. Her well-cared for golden hair is shining a bright spotlight on the ever increasing disparity between the rich and the poor. Perhaps when Paris is released for real she will travel the country speaking to these issues. She'll lobby congress against mandatory sentencing guidelines, three strikes laws that target non-violent criminals, the absurdity of ballot initiatives that cost more money while removing layers of judicial oversight -- such as the absurdly named Gang Violence and Juvenile Crime Prevention Act- AKA Proposition 21.
So I want to take this moment to thank Paris Hilton for bringing these important issues back to the American conversation and the media for its excellent coverage of the events as they unfolded. Can a person be a hero even when they don't mean to be? Even while crying for their mother, taken away in chains? I guess it depends on your definition, but I don't see why not.
Monty Panesar is one of England's top cricket bowlers. This is his summer to break through and become a big star. Yesterday, he made that breakthrough. He scored his first 10 wicket test, which finished on Monday. That's ten outs -four in the first innings and six in the second innings- during the five-day match. He did give-up 137 runs in the second innings, contributing to the Windies' near-record 394 runs for a losing team's second at-bat. But 10 K's puts his name on a board of England achievements somewhere, and he earned it. He is doing some great things and like the England team of 2005, he is putting Cricket on the back cover of the tabloids again. I cannot wait for India to visit England for a test series in July. But until then, there is still one more test to play against the West Indies this weekend at Riverside (Durham County, I believe, near some castle).
My favorite England fast bowler, Steve Harmison, notched his 200th test wicket. His location was off in the first innings, where he struggled to get 2 wickets. But he recovered to earn a respectable 6 wickets while giving-up 150 runs total in the match.
Dead-on correct. The reason Harvey Levin, the chief of TMZ wants Paris freed is not because he cares about justice. It's because he needs Paris out and about to generate more revenue.
Why Bush Should Pardon Paris
Sherman Yellen
The Huffington Post
Sat Jun 9, 8:36 PM ETForget Scooter Libby. He's hung out to dry. Much too complicated for Bush to pardon him now. Yes, the Republican base wants it, but a pardon always admits guilt, and that's something that the Bush people cannot, never have, and will never do.
But Bush has too much in common with Paris Hilton -- too much natural sympathy with her to let her twist in the wind or languish in a Los Angeles jail. He should pardon her if he acts on his principles and his past behavior. Like Paris he moves from one folly and misadventure to another without regard to the consequences, never suffering remorse or understanding the consequences of his acts. The Los Angeles police calls such folks 51/50's -- armed and dangerous mental cases who can injure themselves or others. But we call them news makers or Republican presidents. Here goes -- my short list of reasons for Bush to pardon Paris:
1. Her activities distract the public from the war in Iraq in a big way and keep us all calmer. In jail she can't do this successfully, but free she can work her charms on the public mind. There is no insurgency in Iraq, no economic conference, no atom bomb in Iran, no starvation in Darfur that can stand up to the attack of Paris on the news media. She is far better than the surge in spreading the Bush optimism, and since we don't have a Michael Jackson charged with interfering with the underwear of small children to keep us amused and outraged these days we need our Paris free. Who thinks of the three thousand and more American solders dead and the thousands of casualties, not to mention the tens of thousand Iraqi maimed and dead when we have Paris, reminding us that life goes on in its merry way - particularly among the rich and famous. Why worry, America? As Rick said to Ilsa in Casablanca, or was it Ilsa to Rick? "We will always have Paris." And so we do.
2. Paris is responsible for keeping thousands of reporters, commentators, publishers, lawyers, Judge Judy and all those cable-news-sanitation-workers employed. Not to mention those pesky undocumented aliens who tend the family gardens and cook America's restaurant meals. So we can all live vicariously through the wealth of our betters without solving our immigration policy as long as Paris is free.
3. Paris stands for all that Republican legislation which attacks the inheritance tax and calls it the death tax. Think of where Paris would be if not for grandpa Conrad's hotel money.
Just another working girl in Vegas paying off the cops to loiter in the casinos and hotels. And she is such a fine role model for poor young girls who seek a lucrative career with no discernible talent but beauty and an interest in recreational sex. Speaking of sex - and that's always fun - she's a straight woman - no Ellen or Rosie - our Paris does it the right way, the American way. Say what you will about her, she will never demand to be married to Nicole Ritchie or Britney Spears. That in itself should earn her a pardon by Bush. We also have a duty to protect her from Large Marge and Big Betty in prison who wish to turn her into their prison bitch - the unspoken fantasy of our cable newscasters. We've all seen those prison movies. Although Bush as Governor never saw a prisoner on death row he wished to pardon rather than mock - here is a chance for him to show a bit of mercy to a girl who needs some. After all, she is our Princess Di, a martyr to privilege, our own first class train wreck.4. Like Bush, Paris has her pornographic tapes. Hers was that plain, good 'ole American screwing (alas, I have never seen it, but I have heard tell it is right up there with Scarlet and Rhett in Gone With The Wind), while his pornographic tape is Abu Ghraib -- the torturing of prisoners -- which reveals his stalwart resolve to protect us at any cost - even if it means destroying our constitution and our traditional values. Together, their tapes record their misadventures, and the tapes don't seem to have hurt their standing in the great world. He should pardon her as a fellow tape maker, advancing the art of the American documentary film.
5. Paris, like Bush, has been nailed for DUI behavior. Only Bush's driving misadventures managed to get suppressed by his wealthy family. In this he has a friend in wife Laura, "Our Lady of the Libraries" with her youthful vehicular manslaughter - ready to stand with him behind this pardon. What's a few too many behind the wheel? The worst that can happen is that you kill a few innocent folks - far better than killing embryonic stem cells in the name of medical research, right?
6. With the public clamoring for Paris's incarceration, Bush can show once again that he doesn't give a damn about public opinion - that he is above it - by pardoning Paris. What a stick in the eye to those Democrats who keep sniveling about accountability and his failure to get rid of the egregious torture-loving Alberto Gonzales. You show 'em George!
7. For Bush, as the father of young daughters, the Paris pardon will send a message to the world that he still stands by his family values no matter how tested they are by a girl's violation and contempt for the law.
8. Our President with all his youthful misadventures with drugs and alcohol must sympathize with Mrs. Hilton and pardon her child. Here is a mother whom he can understand, one who regards her darlin' daughter as a martyr to the press, and has, like his own Barb Bush, turned a blind eye to youthful, coke-snorting hi-jinks. Momma Hilton may not be up to the high standards of a Barbara Bush, who shared her son's supreme indifference to the suffering of the Katrina survivors, but Momma Hilton is a Junior League version of Mama Bush who will stand by her child through thick and thin. Bush must stand up for such mothers and their tribulations by pardoning their progeny.
9. Remember 2000? Bush was the man all the men in white middle class America wanted to have a beer with - and so he was elected to rule the world. And a groveling MSM helped him do so. Paris is the girl that all the girls want to have a Cosmopolitan with and all the men want to go to bed with - and so she rules the news - which in our publicity culture means ruling the world. And a groveling press helps her do so. Despite their tsk-tsking, the MSM's admiration for the girl shines through - and a free press must be allowed to follow up every lead. No one will ever accuse them of neglecting to follow up on Paris as they did on the WMDs.
10. And finally, when Bush pardons Paris it will be the last chapter of No Child Left Behind. Paris may be old enough to understand the consequences of her acts, but she must not be the child left behind to rot in prison for a month, when she can rot in public for the rest of her life. Her failure to be educated properly, despite the private schools and tutors, reveals the failure of the American educational system and justifies more rigid testing of the young. More homework, America, or your child will become the next Paris with a condom in every backpack. She serves as both a source of admiration and a warning - a terrific combo.
11 & 12. Just as Bush urged us to shop our way to freedom during his war, Paris Hilton has lead the charge. She needs no American flag in her lapel to reveal her patriotism. She has replaced our national pride of WWII with our national Prada in the war on terror. As one who loves this country it warms my heart to know that the young, such as Paris, are doing their best to protect our country in its time of trial. As the Republican candidates have shown us, Americans want optimism - mixed with a dash of terror - and who is more slap-happy-yet-scary than Paris Hilton? Selfishly, as the grandfather of a 2-year-old toddler who is more interested in Dora the Explorer than Paris Hilton, I would like to see Paris out and about to exhaust her shelf life on the newsstands before my beloved child comes of age. I hope she can do that in the next decade or we are all lost. They used to say SEE PARIS AND DIE, but my motto for today is FREE PARIS AND LIVE!
I like Philadelphia. I don't love it. I came to that conclusion this past weekend as I went museum-hopping. It has a ways to go before it can be a 'Baby New York.' My Boston friends and I would laugh our asses off when we would see this commercial play during Red Sox broadcasts in 2003 / 2004:
I don't really want to knock the town that gave us the greatest document ever written by mankind, or was the last residence of Benjamin Franklin, the greatest of our nation's founders never to serve as an elected official. But I have to speak-up as a recent visitor of Philadelphia. It is not on the same level as Boston or New York. It ought to be, with its museums, universities, big train station, four major historic attractions, and very decent Center City (what they call downtown). Also Philly is known for cheesesteaks and very fine pretzels (either baked sourdough or chocolate-coated....mmmmmm).
Instead of giving a long-winded review, I thought I'd just touch a few topics by doing a list of pros and cons. Maybe the pros outweigh the cons. If I were a college student, Philly would be phine. But as a salaryman resident, Philly might kill me. Here's my list in no particular order:
PROS:
1. Museums. Philly has the Franklin Institute Science Center. While not quite as good as Boston's Museum of Science (Boston has better permanent exhibits and a bigger planetarium), the Philly museum is bigger, and it won the King Tutankhamun exhibit through the end of September. It is worth seeing. Philly has a huge Museum of Art. It also has the Rodin museum, the largest collection of Rodin sculptures outside of France. Philly also has the Mutter Museum, the largest medical museum in the USA. It is modelled after British medical museums, and has some pretty incredible specimens. It has the liver that was shared between Cheng and Eng, Grover Cleveland's surgically removed tumor, a post-execution tissue sample from John Wilkes Boothe, and dozens of skulls and fetuses, displaying fatal defects, rare diseases, and fatal injuries. It certainly uses some freakish samples to draw the crowds, but the presentation is clinical and very informative. And it currently has a wonderful exhibit on the medical advances pioneered by Benjamin Franklin, as well as a history of Franklin's health and ailments. He lived to be 85, which is outstanding by even today's standards (85 is my personal goal, too).
2. Food. That includes pretzels, cheesesteaks, and ice cream (Scoop de Ville is awesome). And one of the best Cuban restaurants I've been in, Alma. Alma is part of the Starr Restaurant Organization, which has twelve restaurants in Philly, two in Atlantic City, and two new restaurants in New York. They are the best in town. And the locals and tourists alike appreciate the many Starbucks in the 'teens streets in Center City.
3. Compact downtown. Buses, and trolleys can get you pretty much anywhere you want to go for $2.00 per ride. The buses are frequent on weekend days, so they score good marks. Philly's downtown is only slightly larger than Boston's. Boston's downtown is very compact for a world-class city.
4. Theater district. It's decent. Maybe that's the only part of Philly that is like a 'Baby New York.' But with Boston rebuilding theatres in the last 10 years, Philly might have fallen behind Beantown. Not good for a city bigger than Boston.
5. Shopping. Philly has Macy's, Anthopologie, J Crew, Joe A. Bank, Nordstrom, and the American Institute of Architects (AIA shop - one of Philly's best small shops.
6. Pro sports. An American city isn't "big" unless it has at least two pro sports teams. To Philly's credit, they have four pro teams, all on the south side. Furthermore, all three sports venues are clustered together near the banks of the Delaware River. That's pretty good, similar to what Cincinnati or Baltimore has for their football and baseball teams. Plus, there is a charming minor league ballpark just across the Delaware river in Camden, NJ. It has one of the best views of any minor league ballpark in the nation. Camden is home to Campbell's Soup, so the ballpark bears the company's name. Does that count as a Philly attraction? I would say so.
7. Benjamin Franklin. Enough said. He was a scientist, ladies man, scholar, publisher, journalist, medial pioneer, ambassador, co-author and co-signer of the Declaration of Independence, and thus played a key role in founding the USA. He's Master Yoda to General Washington's Luke Skywalker. He's Bill Belichick to Tom Brady. You get the idea.
8. US History. Philly has the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, The Constitution Museum, the Betsey Ross house, and Christchurch (the church and nearby cemetery). That's six major historic attractions within a short walking distance of each other. And there are horse-drawn carriages and Duck tours, if you are a sucker tourist who is into those rides.
9. Higher Learning. Philly has some great schools, such as U Penn, Temple, St. Joe's, Drexel, the Art Institute, the Moore College of Art and Design, Thomas Jefferson University, the Philadelphia Academy of the Fine Arts, and LaSalle University to name a few.
CONS:
1. The Philly economy. Philly seems to have been left behind in the economic expansion of the 1990s. I hear the job market is stagnant. Restaurants are full and the tourist economy seems to be doing fine. There are better restaurants and hotels today than there were 10 years ago. There has been gentrification around the U Penn area, which used to be notorious for high crime rates. There are incentives for companies to come to Philly. The Chrysler Building-inspired Liberty Center still looks great 20 years after being built. The Comcast Center will be the tallest building in the state when it opens this fall. It is almost as tall as the Empire State Building. It is not fully-certified as a Green building, but it will feature some Green technologies, such as waterless urinals. When I look at Boston and New York seemingly rolling in mountains of cash, I can't say Philly is up there with them. In terms of overall quality of life, Philly is ahead of many inland cities, like St. Louis or Atlanta. But it seems to lag other coastal cities like Miami and Seattle (albeit, its cultural and educational institutions are above average for big cities in the USA).
2. The Delaware riverfront. There is none, right? There ought to be. There is demand for urban housing. There are people who want to live in Philly. But the waterfront is an eyesore. Philly will need to wait -as Boston did- for a beautiful waterfront.
3. The Schuylkill riverfront. It now has a park with jogging and bike paths on its east bank. But the industrial neighborhoods on both sides of the river need a lot of work. Aside from 30th Street Station and the Post Office on the west bank, the area is known for its red light district and unfriendly streets. Interestingly, violent crime in the area is low (most violent crime occurs west of the train station roughly from 50th to 63rd streets, and also in the North Side of town). But it is in need of development. Someday.
4. The drivers don't respect pedestrians. They just don't. Fortunately, car traffic in downtown is not as fast or as high-volume as midtown Manhattan. The narrow streets are similar to Boston's. But I have to point out that only a few drivers yielded to me, and blocking the box is also a common problem at red lights.
5. Are the locals of Philadelphia grumpy or is it just me? This needs to be studied further. But people in Miami and New York seem so much more....well, lively and happy.
6. Many businesses close early. I wanted to grab some chocolate-coated pretzels to take home. I saw them in a bakery on 17th Street on Sunday morning. I went back at 4:30pm to find it had closed at 4pm. Several shops on Chestnut, Market, Broad, and Walnut streets were closed on both Saturday and Sunday afternoon, in the middle of the hotel and tourist area (the 'teens streets, as I call them). What was up with that? Stay open, dammit.
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So many great things about Philly. But I spotted some deal breakers as well. I had such high hopes. But it had been said to me back in 1998 by a former boss, that "Philly is the most boring big city in the Northeast." I wouldn't go that far. Washington DC is such a ghost town. But then again, isn't Baltimore more lively (I will know in 2008 or 2009 when I visit there)? Is Portland or Seattle a better coastal city in which to live (I *think* so, but they could disappoint me as well)?
Maybe I am too harsh? I like the 'thumbs-up' or 'thumbs-down' approach to travel destinations or restaurants. Right now, my thumb is pointing down.
Still, the WORST northeast city I have ever been in is Trenton, New Jersey. It was scary entering on foot in the morning, and it was scary leaving on foot at night. That was June 30th, 2002. It's the only city where a hooker approached me in broad sunlight. What a sad and scary place.
So Philly, you're better than Trenton.
E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES! Ick.
And Ben Franklin was born in Boston.
I agree with just about everything Rachael Sklar says, until her final sentence. Paris news does exclude most everything else - if a typical news consumer only watches nightly cable news.
Rachel Sklar
We'll Always Have Paris
The Huffington Post
Sun Jun 10, 3:08 PM ETParis Hilton is news. That is a fact, like evolution. What kind of news depends on the day: Attending a premiere in a low-cut dress? Celebrity news, for Star and Us Weekly. Premiering another season of "The Simple Life?" Entertainment Weekly and TVGuide. Having a nip slip? Okay, maybe that's no longer news. But otherwise, Paris Hilton makes news — and it's not just for existing, either, it's for constantly doing things. Stupid things, but things nonetheless. Like being engaged to someone with the same name. Like recording an album with a single that was actually pretty sticky (oh, come on, you toe-tapped to "Stars Are Blind" too). Like eating a hamburger lasciviously for Carl's Jr. She even makes news when she flops, like with her infamously terrible Vanity Fair cover. Dies theatrically in a horror flick? Launches a perfume? Loses her dog? News, news, news. And of course, she was something of a sex-tape pioneer (but nice try, Kim Kardashian). Plus, didn't she pee herself in public or something? So like it or not, what Paris Hilton does makes the news — or some subset of the news. Perhaps not for being smart, but still.
Originally, Hilton was famous for being famous — a creation of Page Six, which catalogued her table-dancing antics from her arrival on the social scene. And as she got more famous, the outrage at her fame grew: "What does she do?" So, as she "did" more things, that outrage remained and our collective incredulity grew, in step with her worlwide marketing muscle and the skyrocketing value of her brand (worth even more in Japan!).
By the time Paris Hilton was actually busted for something real — a DUI is not a small thing, it is an act of surpassing selfishness, a fitting offense for a spoiled heiress who has never had to answer for anything in her life — the ourtrage, and the schadenfreude, was off the charts. So when she was busted, it was news. Real news — breaking news on the cable nets and headline news in the papers (though more the New York Post than the New York Times). And when she was released after three days for a paltry house arrest (and concomitant house party), it was even bigger news — so when she was dragged kicking and screaming back to the slammer, it was the biggest news of all.
That last bit would have been news for any celebrity — news is man bites dog, anything out of the ordinary, which is why Anna Nicole Smith got so much damn attention. For Paris Hilton — a truly sui generis case in the world of celebrity — this was a sui generis situation, and a story, on many levels. Celeb comeuppance? Check. Twisting, turning, developing case of crime and justice in the thank-god-there-is-actually-news-to-fill-this-late-afternoon timeslot? Check. Meditation on the differential treament of celebrities in the legal system? Check. There is even a debate: Was Paris treated too lightly — or punished too severely? Check, check, check.
So, Paris is news. Maybe not round-the-clock-all-the-time-this-just-in-
she-took-another-breath news, but news nonetheless. News across the board, as news itself and as news about the news, i.e. "Did it need to be news?" and "How was it covered?" vis a vis the news decisions (and public statements thereon) of Katie Couric and Brian Williams. During the Anna Nicole whirlwind, I wondered if it wasn't news, the "why is Howard Kurtz putting it at the top of the hour?" Guess what led "Reliable Sources" today? Paris, Paris, Paris. Like it or not, it is news — just not to the exclusion of everything else.
In other news.
This coming Sunday might be a beach day here in the New York area. It's not all bad news here in the Big Apple. It's time to hit the beach. Sandy Hook NJ, Long Beach, NY, and Fire Island, NY might all be on-tap for Father's Day.
Finally, photographic evidence of Bush drinking a beer while serving as president. Now this is a non-alcoholic beer which contains 0.5% alcohol. But as I can attest, you can barely feel that if you have a couple. So this begs the question, is Bush officially off the wagon?
John Aravosis at Americablog has the details.
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Mommeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
That's what a good judge should do when lawyers and sheriffs fuck with his ruling. I like this judge:
During the hearing on the issue of her early release, Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer was calm but apparently irked by developments of the morning. He said he had left the courthouse Thursday night having signed an order for Hilton to appear for the hearing.When he got in his car early Friday, he said, he heard a radio report that she would not appear and that he had approved a telephonic hearing. He said no such thing had been approved by him.
"I at no time condoned the actions of the sheriff and at no time told him I approved the actions," he said of the decision to release Hilton from jail after three days.
"At no time did I approve the defendant being released from custody to her home on Kings Road," he said.
And as for Paris, crying and screaming throughout the hearing!
I wish I had your problems, girlfriend. You're famous for being famous. You are the ultimate postmodern celebrity. For having your name, you are a millionaire and don't have to work a fucking day in your life. And because of this, you have millions of fans. Fans! They love you because they want to live like you.
You have fans the same reason George W. Bush has fans. Millions of people wish they wouldn't have to work and they wish they had rich parents to get them everything they want. And when you don't get what you want? Well, whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!
Girls your age are getting blown up in Fallujah, Najaf, and Ramada, er, I mean Ramadi.
EIGHTY dead American female soldiers so far and counting.
I've got thirty fans here at MLH. I'm blessed. Happy Viernes, everyone.
I have pondered over the current Democrats running for president, and I am not happy with any of them. Oh sure, I would very much appreciate a Democrat in the White House. I like how Obama talks about America needing to re-affirm its purpose. The JFK playbook is still valid, I see. That's nice. But we need a Democrat with a backbone.
So I want this dude to run. I hope he does. This is him three years ago, in his finest speech (which you can still buy from MoveOn.org for $10).
When news broke yesterday morning that Paris Hilton was sent home after completing just 72 hours in jail, the story was that she had a medical condition that required her release from prison. But what could that medical condition be?
Well I used my non-professional medical knowledge to come-up with six possible serious medical conditions:
1. Paris is pregnant.
2. Paris has cancer and needs treatment.
3. Paris has appendicitis.
4. Paris got a serious bacterial infection (eg, a staph infection or meningitis - highly unlikely).
5. Paris suffered from a life-threatening blood clot (DVT).
6. Paris suffered a broken bone or other injury requiring a visit to an ER.
I think numbers 2 through 6 have been ruled-out, given that Paris was allowed to return to her house to work out, resume using lotions, play video games, and order take-out. So is she pregnant? I'm just asking. But her lawyer ain't telling.
And if she was released due to a 'psychological condition,' then what the fuck?
Does this mean that in California, complaining that a jail cell is cold is enough to get a fairer sentence (and in an instant)? What judge would allow that? Crying got her sent home? Is this a California thing? I ask because in Massachusetts and New York, crying and shivering does not get you out of prison sooner. A judge would laugh his ass off if someone faxed him a request to release a prisoner. Or the judge might grab his gun if he received the fax at 11pm on Wednesday night.
[I know how my girl reacts is she receives a bullshit page in the middle of the night. Badness. I can't possibly believe a judge received the order and said, "Oh joy! I'll sign this right now! Paris must be freed!! I'm honored to be awakened by this news! It's the most important case in the state!"]
Or was she released without a judge's signature at all? If that's the case, I again ask: What The Fuck?
Let's go to the videotape. From the Associated Press:
The decision by Sheriff Lee Baca to move Hilton chafed prosecutors and Judge Sauer, who spelled out during sentencing that Hilton was not allowed to serve house detention.Late Thursday, Sauer issued the order for Hilton to return to court after the city attorney filed a petition demanding that Hilton be returned to jail and to show cause why Baca shouldn't be held in contempt of court.
Baca dismissed the criticism, saying the decision was made based on medical advice."It isn't wise to keep a person in jail with her problem over an extended period of time and let the problem get worse," Baca told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday.
"My message to those who don't like celebrities is that punishing celebrities more than the average American is not justice," Baca said.
What kind of a state is it where a sheriff can effectively modify a judge's sentence without a signature or the need to explain himself to the bench? Un-be-fukcing-lievable.
What medical advice did Sheriff Baca receive? Paris was diagnosed with being a fucking crybaby? He could have called my house for a diagnosis. Then again, it would have been 2am my time. Grrrrrrrrrrrrr.
[And I don't mean to go even more overboard, but look at the logic. Women in this country complain about interior spaces being cold all the time. You see them wearing sweaters and jackets in movie theaters, offices, and shopping malls. They aren't as addicted to air conditioning as we sweaty men are. But does this mean that complaining about cold spaces is going to grant them special treatment? Can my girl now get a seat in first class if it is too chilly in coach? I'm just asking.]
Golly, this is such a weird sentencing case. Only in California (where a homicide trial lasted over a year, and frivolous lawsuits can survive rounds in court, etc.).
I know one thing: in Massachusetts, which has some of the toughest drunk driving laws in the country, driving while one's license is suspended, even sober, carries some stiff penalties:
- 30 or 60 days in jail, or up to 36 months if the individual has a criminal record and shows signs of violating the law repeatedly. Let's assume Paris would get 30 days. There would be no way to serve the detention at her house. She would have to live in a jail cell, albeit a nice one that resembles a dorm room.
- A fine up to $10,000.
- If one was on probation at the time (as Paris was), the judge can aim for the high-end of the fine scale and extend the jail term beyond the minimum 30 days.
So what Paris got was very similar, right? Her lawyers even got the jail term reduced from 45 days to 23. And what was so bloody difficult about serving that sentence? Her lawyers seem to be behind yesterday's early release, aggressive slime balls that they are. I'm curious to see what is going to go down in the courtroom today. If I were the judge, I would be pissed that my order did not stick for a young woman in good health and deserving of 20+ days in a detention facility.
Of course, her lawyers are doing what lawyers are paid to do - to get her a better deal. They have done a great job, too. So far they have:
1. Reduced her sentence from 45 days in jail to 23 (subject to change in today's court hearing).
2. Arranged for Paris to stay in the 'special needs' wing of the prison, so she would not have to interact with the majority of the 2,000 female inmates there. Also her cell would be slightly more comfy.
3. Successfully portrayed Paris as a victim, who is miserable and unsafe in jail, and therefore deserving of a much more comfortable home detention.
4. Spun the news about her medical condition in such a way that they made it appear that the sheriffs detained Paris for an extra 24 hours after first noticing her serious condition. So they have the audacity to say that she should have been sent home sooner.
Of course I know this IS a small story. We have lost 3,500 troops in Iraq, and counting. There are over a million Iraqi refugees that neighboring countries don't want. Habeas corpus is dead in the USA. The right to a safe abortion is under attack from multiple fronts. And we have the Department of Justice scandal still brewing. But I wanted to point out the madness that is California justice. It is truly mad.
Curt Schilling pitched a complete game, 100-pitch, one-hit shutout of the A's to break Boston's four-game losing streak. That's the way you do it.
In last weekend's debate, most Democratic candidates (except Dennis Kucinich who might be the only exception) claimed that Congress needs to override a presidential veto in order to end the occupation of Iraq. David Sirota has produced a video stating the facts.
Clinton, Obama, and Biden all fail on this very critical issue.
Which leads me to wonder, would Al Gore have gotten this little quiz correct? If so, I want him to run. Forget these wimps.
