Category Archives: Politics

Wonder Women is not the only female super hero

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externalFirst it was Malala Yousafzai, the young Pakistan who was shot by the Taliban for speaking up and saying girls should have the right to be educated. Nine months after the shooting, Yousafzai stood before a specially convened youth assembly at the UN headquarters, showing the strength and courage to stand for what she believed in.

Now we have another young girl who also showed strength and courage, Ariana Grande. Grande and many big-name acts came together to perform before a euphoric crowd of 50,00 fans just weeks after a senseless bombing following her concert in Manchester and less than 24 hours after the deadly attack in London. Songs were mixed with messages of staying strong and unified.

These two women come from very different backgrounds, but they do share one very important trait. The strength and resolve to stand before evil and show the world that, no matter what, good will prevail.

“Our response to this violence must be to come closer together, to help each other, to love more, to sing louder and to live more kindly and generously than we did before,” said Grande.

Houston parks score poorly in national study

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hermann_park_2825-tom_fox__680x400-680x400The city of Houston has a lot going for it. A solid economy, high praise for its diversity, a low cost of living all combine to make it a highly desirable destination. But when it comes to our parks, well that appears to be a different story all together.

The Trust for Public Land’s ParkScore®  recently released its 2017 index to measure how well the 100 largest U.S. cities are meeting the need for parks. Houston comes in tied at 81 (Newark and Wichita were also ranked 81st).

The index utilizes mapping technology along with demographic data to determine how well cities are meeting the need for parks. It takes in factors such as percent of park land in a city, the spending per capita and even the number of basketball hoops and dog parks per 100,000 residents.

Each city can earn a maximum score of 120 points . (Houston scored 39). Points were awarded for eight statistical measures in three categories: acreage, facilities and investments and access. The total is than normalized to a scale out of 100. This final value is the city’s ParkScore. Minneapolis came in at number one with a score of 87.5.

Houston’s ranking was heavily impacted by its investment grade­, earning a 2 out of a possible 20 points on what the city spends on its parks. Back in 2012, ParkScore reported the Bayou City spent $43 per resident on its parks. Today that amount is $35 (Minneapolis spends $233 per resident).

ParkScore

The map indicates where ParkScore feels there are park gaps. Park gaps are based on a dynamic 1/2 mile service area (10 minute walking distance) for all parks. In this analysis, service areas use the street network to determine walkable distance – streets such as highways, freeways, and interstates are considered barriers.

The art of optics

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Op.tics

Noun

  1. the way in which an event or course of action is perceived by the public.

imagesOptics have always played a major role in politics. The way something is seen can be just as, if not more important, than what it’s trying to accomplish. Politicians work feverishly to make sure they are put in the best light, so it’s a little strange to see someone buck that trend.

President Trump is a person who has always done things his way. From The Art of a Deal to the Trump “brand’; it has always been his way or the highway. This week, Trump meet with the Russian ambassador one day after firing F.B.I. Director James Comey for either being mean to Hillary, or for continuing to look at connections between the Trump campaign and Russia (I report, you decide).

This is not about why Trump dumped Comey, but about the optics of meeting with the Russians the next day. Trump explained to NBC’s Lester Holt that he “never thought about the optics” of welcoming Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to the White House the day after he fired Comey.

“It was set up a while ago, and frankly, I could have waited but what difference does it make? I’m not looking for cosmetics. I’m looking to do a great job for the country,” said Trump.

Now some people will find that honesty refreshing. Maybe if we worried less about how the public might react to something and focus more on the job at hand, we would be better off.

Trump’s problem is that his so-called negative optics are as plentiful as opinions and are causing people to question his ability to lead and trustworthiness. Conflicting information, dismissing high level staffers like Mike Flynn and James Comey; and an ever changing narrative from his spokespersons erode the level of confidence and willingness (if you can find one democrat) to work with him.

During the campaign, the word unconventional was used ad nauseam to describe his campaign. I’m surprised we don’t hear that word more to describe his presidency.

26 seconds of infamy

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920x920Alexandra Zapruder, granddaughter of Abraham Zapruder, is coming to Houston this week to discuss her book “From Camera Lens to Conspiracies: What Zapruder Saw Then to What the World Sees Now.”

While the “Zapruder Film” has been discussed and dissected ad nauseam, reading about the book’s premise reminded me how much the world has changed in regards to how news is covered. Just imagine for a moment if the JFK assassination occurred today. There would hundreds of spectators with smart phones taking photos, shooting videos, steaming live to Facebook, all to be posted on social media.

Back in 1963, Zapruder protected his film by entrusting it to the U.S. Secret Service. He later sold the rights to Life magazine whose editors carefully protected their investment. Eventually, the images were stolen and used by several famous and not so famous media outlets.

Today, television stations routinely encourage viewers to record breaking news when they see it (one station even reminds viewers to turn the phone sideways before you start recording). Now we get to enjoy watching passengers being dragged down the aisle of a United Airline jet to “voluntarily” give up their seat, or road rage fights.

It appears from the excerpts of the book, Zapruder was very calculating when it came to what should be done with his infamous 26 second film. The frames are horrific and capture a dark day in our nation’s past. One can see this was not an easy decision for him to make.

Does the public have the right to see it? Is forcing the Kennedy family live with those images forever fair to them? Did we learn anything more about the assassination by seeing the film then before?

Much has indeed changed in the last 54 years.

The health of the Affordable Health Care Act

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The debate in our nation’s capital over the Affordable Health Care Act continues. Even though Republicans own a majority in all three branches of government, there has been no consensus on how to repeal/replace it.

It seems from the rhetoric of the American people, there are actually parts they like such as having their children stay on their policy till they reach 25 years of age, and allowing people with pre-existing conditions to get some kind of health care coverage.

The biggest hurdle may be in what the act has become known as; “Obamacare”. Republicans  seem to have the attitude of “we don’t much care for Obama” and anything with his name on it is an abomination. I can’t help but wonder if both sides could fix it/make it better if his name wasn’t associated with it.

Ironically, the Freedom Caucus, is asking republicans to work with conservatives and throw out the whole thing which sounds strange to me when you consider the fact that most every Republican would claim they already are conservative.

It’s not easy, even President Trump commented “who knew health care could be so complicated” (actually anyone who relies on P.P.O.’s and co-pays already knew that). Trump even threatened to work with Democrats (insert gasp here) to get something done much to chagrin of Republican law-makers.

The Republicans point out more insurance companies are bowing out and rates are sky-rocketing which is true. Democrats warn a full repeal would cause millions to lose coverage which is also true. So where does the answer lie? Perhaps in the provable middle where few dare to tread and even fewer are able to politically return.

Well that lasted all of one week

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NFL-nfl-4311909-1280-800Super Bowl LI is in the books. The city of Houston did a wonderful job of hosting the mega-event and most people agree the game and the experience was first class. Being the forward looking city we are, Houston is already thinking about the next time the Super Bowl will come to H-Town, but as Lee Corso so famously says; “not so fast my friend.”

The Houston Chronicle ran a buzz-kill story just three days after the big event with the headline “NRG Stadium already dated compared to other Super Bowl venues”.  It seems the NRG is fast becoming outdated and will require major updates to compete for Super Bowls, Final Fours and other major events.

City leaders and the NFL will tout the tremendous economic impact the host city enjoys to justify updating/building these modern day coliseums, but like most numbers, it can greatly depend on your point of view. While the Houston numbers are still being calculated, the 2015 Super Bowl held in Arizona reportedly brought in $719m. The state might have taken in that amount in Super Bowl related events, but that number does not take into account the hundreds of millions dollars needed to host the game.

Economists who study these sorts of things put the value more at $30m to $130m, a nice piece of change, but nowhere near the $719m that is promoted.

The game heads north to Minneapolis next year. The Minneapolis Star Tribune published the NFL’s list of demands back in 2014. It’s shows what the NFL expects a city to cough up for the privilege of hosting the big game.

For example:

  • If placing logos of the NFL, Super Bowl, and teams that are playing in the game on the field requires different turf to be installed in the new downtown Minneapolis stadium, there would be no charge for that to the league.
  • If cellphone signal strength at the team hotels is not strong enough, then the host committee — at no cost to the league — “will be responsible [for erecting] a sufficient number of portable cellular towers.

The NFL is also requiring the local media “to provide significant advertising and promotional time” for the “NFL Experience” in the month leading up to the game. Among them: At least 20 color pages of free space, in aggregate, in leading daily newspapers to promote the game and four weeks of free promotions on at least six local radio stations, including at least 250 live or prerecorded ads.

Now granted, those “recommendations” are from 2014 and could have been negotiated and changed, but its’ still pretty incredible to force host cities to ensure services like cellphone signal strength meets league standards, but that’s not all the all the Super Bowl requires.

They also don’t want to see laws that discriminate against a transgender person using a restroom that conforms to their gender identity. Given Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s crusade to keep our bathrooms safe, the NFL could say thanks, but no thanks to a Houston bid even if we did build them a multibillion dollar brand-new stadium.

An alternative narrative

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3059
fact

fakt/

  1. a thing that is indisputably the case

 

 

Fact: The Buffalo Bills have no shot at being in the Super Bowl.

Alternative Fact: The Buffalo Bills are going to the Super Bowl.

A lot is being made of Kelly Anne Conway suggesting White House press secretary Sean Spicer was using “alternative facts” when asked about his claims on the size of the crowd at President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

On the surface, it appears to be another silly issue of the Trump administration not liking being told their event wasn’t as good as prior ones and how the media is trying to delegitimize his election. There are many larger issues out there like health care, NAFTA, Supreme Court nominations and our relationship with Russia. Spending time arguing about the size of the crowd seems pointless and petty.

The problem I have with this is the Trump administration seems has no problem blatantly lying to the face of the American people. Smart communications persons try to set the narrative and not get sucked into a conversation like that. Are “alternative facts” what you want people talking about? It’s inconsequential, and outside of die-hard Trump supporters, won’t change anyone’s mind. It’s mind boggling to even go down that rabbit hole.

Now I get the news media is an easy target and that a certain segment of America enjoys watching them get a tongue lashing. If I had to guess, I would say their approval rating is around the same as the congress, but it still seems to me to be a fight you don’t need to have.

So where do we go from here? I suggest the classic “Caveat Emptor” (buyer beware). Maybe I’m cynical, but I don’t trust either side.

Fake news in the news

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congress2There has been a lot of buzz lately about “fake” news sites and how they may have impacted the recent presidential election.

Multiple stories have been written on how to spot a fake news story and even President Obama has weighed in calling it a threat to democracy.

There’s only one little problem, fake news has been around since the birth of our nation.

Back in 1782, Benjamin Franklin, who was in France as American ambassador, put together an entirely fake issue of a real Boston newspaper, the Independent Chronicle. In it, Franklin made up a story allegedly from the New York frontier and concerned wartime atrocities by Indians at the behest of the British.

The fake story was sent to his friends and was picked up by real newspapers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York and Rhode Island.

Columnist Leonard Pitts (who appears in the Houston Chronicle) wrote a piece on how fake news is “eating like terminates through the foundations of democracy”. He even goes on to quote Thomas Jefferson who said “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free; it expects what never was and never will be.”

It’s a great quote, but it’s hard to swallow when you learn Jefferson secretly gave money to newspaper editors to spread personal rumors about his enemies which may or may not have been true while the country was struggling to form a new government. Oh well, it still makes for a great quote.

Now in today’s inter-connected world wide web, it’s easy to see how a fake news story can take off like a wild fire. Websites like Facebook are trying to figure out how they weed these stories out (although some reports claim Facebook generates half its ad revenue from fake news sites), so I guess it will be up to us to decide what is true and what is not.

Democracy survived Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson’s transgressions, I suspect it will continue to do so after this election as well.

Smart vs. pleasant

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“My number one priority is making sure president Obama’s a one-term president.”
— Senate Minority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky

“We all want what’s best for this country. That’s what I heard in Mr. Trump’s remarks last night. That’s what I heard when I spoke to him directly. And I was heartened by that.”
— President Barack Obama

I believe you can judge a person not when they’re winning, but when they’re losing. How they respond tells a whole lot about their character. That’s why I was pleased to hear President Obama take the high road when meeting with reporters after the Trump/Clinton election.

It may just have been rhetoric and maybe he really doesn’t believe what he says, but tone matters. Back in 2008, Sen. McConnell felt it was in the best interest of the country to do whatever he could to not allow Obama a second term. You can argue that, blocking Obama would be in the best interest for the country, but do you really want to say it like that? Could we at least put some lipstick on the pig?

I may have missed it, but I don’t recall the kind of bombastic language this year by presidential candidates in the past elections. Deplorable and nasty soon became buzz words for both parties to rally around. I realize the country is divided, but maybe it’s because of our tone of discourse. Maybe if we step back, listen (now there’s a concept) and work at addressing our issues in a calmer manner we can get more things done. I understand not everyone will be able to do this, I’m just saying it would be nice to see a little more of it.

I think Elwood P. Dowd in the film Harvey summed it up best when he said; “In this world, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant.” Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me.”

Changing the station

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djHaving spent most of my adult life in talk radio, I always like to keep up with what’s happening on the airwaves. People come, people go and there is the usual craziness, but then I came across two stories that make me glad I have no part of that industry anymore.

The first comes from Miami and WAXY (790 The Ticket). It seems Dan Le Batard is furious with management because they told him not to talk about a penis surgery story. Le Batard supposedly went on a rant, challenging the station to fire him.

“Nothing matters to me more, than you don’t control what comes out of my mouth,” Le Batard said, “and we’ve got someone going crazy locally right now, saying they’re gonna yank us off the air if we continue to talk about this.  And what I’m telling you right now is: fire me.  Not only never do that again, fire me now if you want to control me that way.  NOW…. yank me off the air now.  Fire me now, cancel my contract now…. because this is infuriating….  you do not control what comes out of my mouth.”

Nice to see him take a stand on such an important issue.

And then there’s St. Louis talk host Bob Romanik.

In recorded ads played this week on AM station KZQZ, sandwiched between ads for local St. Clair County “Freedom Coalition” politicians, Romanik referred repeatedly to County Board Chairman Mark Kern as a cross-dresser and “faggot.”

The ad, which has Tiny Tim’s 1968 recording of “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” as background music asks

“Have you also been lying about your sexuality and sex life? … Mark ‘Sweetcakes’ Kern, not a wolf in sheep’s clothing but a very small man in women’s clothing. You have now earned a new name. … To all the people of St. Clair County, you’ll be known as Mark ‘The Faggot’ Kern, a faggot forever.”

According to the St. Louis Dispatch, At least one listener complained. Romanik responded on his talk show Tuesday that anyone who thinks he doesn’t have the right to speak his mind can “kiss my red, white and blue, hairy, stinky old ass. … I can question anybody’s sexuality.”

Romanik, who claims he is not perfect, pleaded guilty to one count of bank fraud in 1999, admitted to defrauding two banks of about $1.5 million to build topless nightclubs in the metro-east. He was ordered to serve 20 months in federal prison.

Fortunately, there is a solution to all this; turn off the radio.