On Saturday, we discussed the theory that the Democrats had "won" the fiscal cliff negotiations and that the Republicans had taken the "loss". It now seems that the progressive media is jumping on that bandwagon to the point that they're planning their 2014 campaign strategy around them being the adults in the room. My thought is that they'll have problems burnishing that theory with kiddie-pool pundits like Michael "throw them through a rhetorical plate glass window" Tomasky and Ezra "there's no history prior to my birth" Klein. In other words, this argument can be easily refuted by pointing out simply that there is no North or South Vietnam and that The United States Navy cannot cause Guam to tip over.
The above argument assumes that the Republicans will be able to craft any response at all. Given the early reaction to the compromise, that's not at all certain. The main problem is that the Tea Party is a blunt force blow to the head while politics is a death by 1000 cuts. For some reason Democrats have historically understood this, being content to chip away at Republican bedrock principles while keeping their loudest complainers on the periphery while Republicans have struggled to grasp the concept. While early Tea Party calls are for an increased circular firing squad the proper response should probably be leadership change.
The idea of substituting someone like Paul Ryan for John Boehner is, on it's merits, a good idea. Ryan is a much better communicator, he's someone who's come out with a workable plan, and he's not as "extreme" as the left-wing has made him out to be, for that matter he's not really extreme at all. On the Senate side perhaps it would be a wise time to take a look at Marco Rubio. For one, he doesn't look like a sleep deprived opossum, two, he's right on the issues and three, he's able to communicate those issues in a way that fires up the base. Not that these are the only two choices for leadership, but their ascension would be far preferable to what is currently in place.
The counter-argument to replacing the current leadership is that it's not entirely their fault. This is true. Once it became clear that "legitimate rape" was costing the Republicans the Senate, that Democrats were gaining seats against light-weight Tea Party candidates in the House and Karl Rove was finished having his Ohio moment the die for this bill was cast. If Obama can do anything, he can campaign. He can take an idea that was once unthinkable, tax increases, and sell them to the American people by assuring them that they will be applied only to those in a higher tax bracket than they. That the reality doesn't match the rhetoric is something to be thrown under a bus of rigged statistics and platitudes. It is the Republicans fault that they never made this case.
That's not to say that some Republican talkers aren't trying. George Will, for instance, reminds us that current trends are not sustainable, and not in a limited-thinking, ecomental type of way, while Debra Suanders keeps the focus on the fact that 77% of Americans taxes will go up, and we still face a fiscal cliff in the future. Perhaps the best piece of fiscal cliff opinion I've read to date comes from the Walter Russel Mead who reminds us that temporary problems such as "the cliff" are not the problem instead wishing to focus on the larger problem of policy deficits.
In the meantime, the so-called 'adults in the room' are fixated on whether or not Boehner's "f-bomb" hurled at Sen. Harry Reid has plunged "incivility to a new low". This is, of course, ridiculous on it's face. For one, it's plunged civility (but hardly to a new low if you study congressional history) while raising incivility (again, not to a new high compared to some past events). The fact is today's congress, and punditry is much more civil than it used to be. We've moved from pistol duels and caning to calls for Boehner to be replaced by Seinfeld's soup Nazi. By any measure, this is progress. Amazingly, the progressive adults in the room are throwing very childish tantrums over relatively minor events. Adults in the room? If so, then we had better hide the children because they are doing their damnedest to bankrupt them.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Saturday, January 5, 2013
It could be that cool is going to bring down a nation.
You had to know that, after the agreement that kicked the fiscal cliff down the road a bit there was certain to be some football spiking by the winning side and wailing and gnashing of teeth by the losers. In this case the Democrats clearly placed a "W" on the Ledger and the Republicans are taking the "L". Let the Democratic victory dance begin. NY Democratic Rep. Israel says that Republicans are children in need of TLC and (I'm guessing this time) stern supervision from their Democratic elders while the National Journal's Michael Hirsh goes gaga over Biden (and loses all sense of history in the process) while Ed Schultz put to rest all of the adults in the room talk by acting his usual childish self.
In the long run, much of this policy talk and bemoaning that the American Century is coming to a close and cheer leading isn't the biggest problem that Republicans face. In a nation where the Kardashian's every move is followed more closely than Hillary Clinton's the GOP needs to come to grip with the fact that it has a cool problem.
I know what you're thinking. "Who cares about cool when it's our principles at stake?" And I agree with you, being cool is less important than keeping your principles. No serious talker is suggesting that the GOP transmogrify itself into a big spending, high taxing, ecomental, union supporting copy of the Democrats. This is not England where the conservative party is really Labor light only just a little bit more industry friendly. That's not the solution.
Neither is the solution to copy the Democrat's handbook for losing.
One of the things for which Texas Democrats are (rightly) mocked is their inevitable meltdowns after electoral losses where they call every Texan stupid. It's to the point of high comedy. So why then should Republicans get a pass when they do the same thing? I understand that it's easy to get angry when things don't go your way, or when the actions of your political opposites bring on bad results the temptation to rub it in everyone's face is almost too much to avoid. But, and here's the big rub, Republicans need to learn to avoid it because you're going to need many of those same "idiots" to vote for your side come 2014.
The Mitt Romney campaign had a lot of faults, but there's no denying that the 47% video was among the most damaging. Basically, it reinforced the public's perception that he was out of touch with most of them and cemented his position as someone for whom a majority would not vote. He just didn't seem as cool and caring about the problems of the working man as does Obama.
And that's the real rub, not that Republican policy is bad but, by retreating to talk radio and Fox News almost exclusively, the GOP is spending most of it's time preaching to the choir, allowing the Democrats almost free reign to classify them as old, white and rich. Certainly much of the old-guard party leadership can be classified as such, but the same holds true for the Democrats as well. For every Koch Brother there's a George Soros (who's not even an American citizen FWIW) and for every Bob Perry there's a Steve Mostyn. I'm not suggesting that any of these financiers are good or bad, only that they're morally equivalent. Yet the Koch brothers and Perry are held up (by Democrats and the media) as the primary reason Republicans are evil.
To turn this around I really think Republicans need to do two things. First, change the leadership. It's time for Boehner and McConnell to go. In their place I would suggest Rep. Paul Ryan and Sen. John Cornyn. I understand that Texas' conservative blogosphere is currently calling for Cornyn to be primaried, but the facts are his record is solidly conservative and his leadership style would be a great improvement over Sen. McConnell. He's also a better speaker and (let's face it) would put a cooler face on the GOP as would Ryan.
What Republicans need to realize is that they were placed in a no-win situation once the Democrats came out ahead in last year's election. They had zero leverage, and they will continue to have zero leverage until, at least, the 2014 mid-terms. They're also reeling right now, struggling to find something that is an effective and winning message, in some respects, Jonathan Krohn is correct, they're not connecting with middle-class and young voters. Where Krohn gets it wrong is that he's incapable of making any other argument than "Why can't you be cool like me?" He's a selfish kid who doesn't have the intellectual chops to craft a good argument. His movement from conservative wunderkind to progressive hero has been one big "look at me" moment and that should be pointed out.
To progressives like Krohn "cool" means acting and believing just as they do, they couldn't be further from the truth. There's nothing cool about breaking the Nation for short-term political gain, and there's nothing cool about being a selfish sot. Remember this: Obama is considered "cool" despite being entirely void of substance. So clearly then there's "cool" and cool at the same time. What is cool is crafting your message for modern times, and finding people who can go out and deliver it in a clear, compelling way. It's also cool to lose with dignity, and then come back with a solid plan to win again. So far the Republicans have been failing on every front. What we're seeing now is a circular firing squad and nothing could be less-cool than that.
In the long run, much of this policy talk and bemoaning that the American Century is coming to a close and cheer leading isn't the biggest problem that Republicans face. In a nation where the Kardashian's every move is followed more closely than Hillary Clinton's the GOP needs to come to grip with the fact that it has a cool problem.
I know what you're thinking. "Who cares about cool when it's our principles at stake?" And I agree with you, being cool is less important than keeping your principles. No serious talker is suggesting that the GOP transmogrify itself into a big spending, high taxing, ecomental, union supporting copy of the Democrats. This is not England where the conservative party is really Labor light only just a little bit more industry friendly. That's not the solution.
Neither is the solution to copy the Democrat's handbook for losing.
One of the things for which Texas Democrats are (rightly) mocked is their inevitable meltdowns after electoral losses where they call every Texan stupid. It's to the point of high comedy. So why then should Republicans get a pass when they do the same thing? I understand that it's easy to get angry when things don't go your way, or when the actions of your political opposites bring on bad results the temptation to rub it in everyone's face is almost too much to avoid. But, and here's the big rub, Republicans need to learn to avoid it because you're going to need many of those same "idiots" to vote for your side come 2014.
The Mitt Romney campaign had a lot of faults, but there's no denying that the 47% video was among the most damaging. Basically, it reinforced the public's perception that he was out of touch with most of them and cemented his position as someone for whom a majority would not vote. He just didn't seem as cool and caring about the problems of the working man as does Obama.
And that's the real rub, not that Republican policy is bad but, by retreating to talk radio and Fox News almost exclusively, the GOP is spending most of it's time preaching to the choir, allowing the Democrats almost free reign to classify them as old, white and rich. Certainly much of the old-guard party leadership can be classified as such, but the same holds true for the Democrats as well. For every Koch Brother there's a George Soros (who's not even an American citizen FWIW) and for every Bob Perry there's a Steve Mostyn. I'm not suggesting that any of these financiers are good or bad, only that they're morally equivalent. Yet the Koch brothers and Perry are held up (by Democrats and the media) as the primary reason Republicans are evil.
To turn this around I really think Republicans need to do two things. First, change the leadership. It's time for Boehner and McConnell to go. In their place I would suggest Rep. Paul Ryan and Sen. John Cornyn. I understand that Texas' conservative blogosphere is currently calling for Cornyn to be primaried, but the facts are his record is solidly conservative and his leadership style would be a great improvement over Sen. McConnell. He's also a better speaker and (let's face it) would put a cooler face on the GOP as would Ryan.
What Republicans need to realize is that they were placed in a no-win situation once the Democrats came out ahead in last year's election. They had zero leverage, and they will continue to have zero leverage until, at least, the 2014 mid-terms. They're also reeling right now, struggling to find something that is an effective and winning message, in some respects, Jonathan Krohn is correct, they're not connecting with middle-class and young voters. Where Krohn gets it wrong is that he's incapable of making any other argument than "Why can't you be cool like me?" He's a selfish kid who doesn't have the intellectual chops to craft a good argument. His movement from conservative wunderkind to progressive hero has been one big "look at me" moment and that should be pointed out.
To progressives like Krohn "cool" means acting and believing just as they do, they couldn't be further from the truth. There's nothing cool about breaking the Nation for short-term political gain, and there's nothing cool about being a selfish sot. Remember this: Obama is considered "cool" despite being entirely void of substance. So clearly then there's "cool" and cool at the same time. What is cool is crafting your message for modern times, and finding people who can go out and deliver it in a clear, compelling way. It's also cool to lose with dignity, and then come back with a solid plan to win again. So far the Republicans have been failing on every front. What we're seeing now is a circular firing squad and nothing could be less-cool than that.
Friday, January 4, 2013
We can't have anything nice in Houston any more, the Loopers have said so.
This week's news that Houston's antiquated, eyesore of a downtown Macy's was closing first sent the Mayor scrambling, setting up something called a "downtown retail task force" who's mission, should they choose to accept it, is to do nothing less than revitalize retail shopping in an area where retail shopping doesn't appear to want to be. Then ChronBlog started scuttling around as Nancy Sarnoff (now pictured with hip, trendy eye-wear) penned a little story that's set the chron.commenters abuzz and has the outer-loop, carbon-spewing, evil-oil supporting, expanding waistline, suburbanites once again at odds with the fairy-fart propelled, twig munching, hip & trendy Inner Loopers or, as they preferred to be called 'urbanites'*.
One thing you need to know about the Loonies...em...Loopers is this: They listen to no opposing views when it comes to glorifying the residential Houtopia that is to blossom from the business district that is downtown Houston. David Crossley be praised.
This highlights a fundamental flaw in how our elected officials propose trinkets for Houston, looking first to the creative class for direction, then the well-heeled developers and then no where else. The problem with this approach is that it frequently leads to silly retail and entertainment projects being built where there are no people to support them. Think of Houston's population dispersion like this: If you took a really big donut, took a couple of bites out of the lower right quadrant and then stretched the SW, W, NW, N and NE (along 59) areas out to where it resembled a Dali painting, took the whole thing and plopped it down on a map of the City of Houston, you'd have a pretty good distribution of the population. The SE corner, where you took the bites, would be the Ship Channel and refineries. We know the people who live there don't shop because, according to Chron Reporter Lise Olson, they dress in petrochemical clothing and subsist on a diet of 1 2 butanediol and other chemicals.
The hole in the middle, and the few crumbs lying there that fell off when you set the donut down, is the residential population in Downtown Houston. Everything else, the meat of the donut if you will, is where people live. Looking at it this way you see why retail and entertainment don't work in Downtown Houston. Of course, the Houtopian dream is to have a light-rail network that will, eventually, after the bodies of crushed, drunk pedestrians are removed from under the carriage, drop you off somewhere nowhere remotely near to your place of residence where you can weave back home while playing a game of dodge mugger. Most people, not wanting to come home with a pipe-imprint in their forehead have forsaken this model and have started to be entertained and shop in places more closely positioned to where they live.
Judging by the Houtpian responses in the comments not only is this the worst idea in the history of the world, but it's also a symptom of the deranged mind of suburbanites. Those in the suburbs are unwilling to see that the Flying Saucer in Downtown Houston is exponentially superior to the Flying Saucer in Sugar Land. When asked to explain why two identical concepts with very similar ambiance, menus and style can be different they typically walk away muttering something about the downtown beer-maid's having more tattoos and more hip, trendy eye wear. By all accounts, Sugar Land Town Square is a far superior a shopping and entertainment district for people in Sugar Land than Downtown Houston is for, well, just about everyone. And there are neighborhood examples all over the City. The Houston Heights basically serves as a self-contained community for well-off Caucasian progressives who spend their time sipping coffee, shopping at Revival Market and holding parties so they can determine what Republican constituency they want to ask their elected officials to tax next. Even Sharpstown is starting to show signs of life and an economic resurgence. And these latter two are directly inside Houston's city limits. I haven't even gotten to CityCentre, Memorial Area Houston, The Medical Center or any other of a host of communities that are building up without the city government forming a commission after a couple of anchor tenants go out of business.
There comes a time when you just have to let things go. As my friend Anne Linehan stated on Twitter: "all the comments talk about Foley's in the past tense. Highlights the problem" Yup, and it's why Houston can't have anything nice, and why we're stuck with a New Year's party that was supposed to be about KC and the Sunshine Band but ended up being 6 or 7 people in spandex dancing to canned music. Houston is so busy trying to build up something that doesn't want to be built up that they've forgotten about those areas that are still trying.
Note: When I wrote this the Apple Dumpling Gang had not yet weighed in. Well, now they have ($$$) and it's predictably awful. Of particular note is this quote:
*What they REALLY want to be called are better, and smarter, than everyone else. In fact, much of their activities exist so that they can convince themselves that they really are.
One thing you need to know about the Loonies...em...Loopers is this: They listen to no opposing views when it comes to glorifying the residential Houtopia that is to blossom from the business district that is downtown Houston. David Crossley be praised.
This highlights a fundamental flaw in how our elected officials propose trinkets for Houston, looking first to the creative class for direction, then the well-heeled developers and then no where else. The problem with this approach is that it frequently leads to silly retail and entertainment projects being built where there are no people to support them. Think of Houston's population dispersion like this: If you took a really big donut, took a couple of bites out of the lower right quadrant and then stretched the SW, W, NW, N and NE (along 59) areas out to where it resembled a Dali painting, took the whole thing and plopped it down on a map of the City of Houston, you'd have a pretty good distribution of the population. The SE corner, where you took the bites, would be the Ship Channel and refineries. We know the people who live there don't shop because, according to Chron Reporter Lise Olson, they dress in petrochemical clothing and subsist on a diet of 1 2 butanediol and other chemicals.
The hole in the middle, and the few crumbs lying there that fell off when you set the donut down, is the residential population in Downtown Houston. Everything else, the meat of the donut if you will, is where people live. Looking at it this way you see why retail and entertainment don't work in Downtown Houston. Of course, the Houtopian dream is to have a light-rail network that will, eventually, after the bodies of crushed, drunk pedestrians are removed from under the carriage, drop you off somewhere nowhere remotely near to your place of residence where you can weave back home while playing a game of dodge mugger. Most people, not wanting to come home with a pipe-imprint in their forehead have forsaken this model and have started to be entertained and shop in places more closely positioned to where they live.
Judging by the Houtpian responses in the comments not only is this the worst idea in the history of the world, but it's also a symptom of the deranged mind of suburbanites. Those in the suburbs are unwilling to see that the Flying Saucer in Downtown Houston is exponentially superior to the Flying Saucer in Sugar Land. When asked to explain why two identical concepts with very similar ambiance, menus and style can be different they typically walk away muttering something about the downtown beer-maid's having more tattoos and more hip, trendy eye wear. By all accounts, Sugar Land Town Square is a far superior a shopping and entertainment district for people in Sugar Land than Downtown Houston is for, well, just about everyone. And there are neighborhood examples all over the City. The Houston Heights basically serves as a self-contained community for well-off Caucasian progressives who spend their time sipping coffee, shopping at Revival Market and holding parties so they can determine what Republican constituency they want to ask their elected officials to tax next. Even Sharpstown is starting to show signs of life and an economic resurgence. And these latter two are directly inside Houston's city limits. I haven't even gotten to CityCentre, Memorial Area Houston, The Medical Center or any other of a host of communities that are building up without the city government forming a commission after a couple of anchor tenants go out of business.
There comes a time when you just have to let things go. As my friend Anne Linehan stated on Twitter: "all the comments talk about Foley's in the past tense. Highlights the problem" Yup, and it's why Houston can't have anything nice, and why we're stuck with a New Year's party that was supposed to be about KC and the Sunshine Band but ended up being 6 or 7 people in spandex dancing to canned music. Houston is so busy trying to build up something that doesn't want to be built up that they've forgotten about those areas that are still trying.
Note: When I wrote this the Apple Dumpling Gang had not yet weighed in. Well, now they have ($$$) and it's predictably awful. Of particular note is this quote:
*What they REALLY want to be called are better, and smarter, than everyone else. In fact, much of their activities exist so that they can convince themselves that they really are.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
It's telling what's hidden behind the pay wall.
Literally tens of Houstonians had strong reactions to Chron.com's announcement of a new behind-a-pay wall site: HoustonChronicle.com.
On the surface, Houston's former newspaper of record slapped on a brave-faced smile, patted themselves on the back for what might as well have been eleventy Billion page views and then proceeded to transfer much of what was already available in the print edition, or the iPad app onto the web, shook hands and, apparently, went off to the latest Houston Media Round-table for a round of shots and pie.
Now, I like pie (especially of the pecan variety) and I'm understanding of the desire for a shot or two, despite my current drinking constitution typically preferring to keep them at arm's length, so I can understand why one would think it's time to say "job well done" and just sit back and watch the revenue come in.
But will it?
First off, there's no value-add to HoustonChronicle.com for a print subscriber who also has an iPad so there's very likely to be much revenue realized from that crowd. Then there's the problem that their free site, Chron.com is still the place for breaking news and the City & County government's, often hilarious responses to it. Also on the "free" site are the Chron's (now infamous) often horrible photo galleries which, as near as I can tell, serve only to allow young hipster staffers in cool eye-wear to let us in on what is fascinating them at the present time. The brain-trust at the Chronicle have also decided to keep the entertainment sections, mostly, on the free site meaning that interested readers will now be able to keep up with the goings on at burlesque parties and Eric Berger's fascination at playing Jr. Weatherman and Ecomentalist true believer. Therefore, I have no doubt that the free portion of the Chronicle empire is sure to maintain their hold as the page-hit news capitol of Houston.
What concerns me, however, is what they've decided to place behind the pay wall.
First, The Apple Dumpling Gang and while it's true the Gang has been slightly less hideous since writing duties ceased to be the sole proprietorship of one Lisa Gray (oh but the Exclamation points!!!!) they're still prone to letting slip a logically tortured doozy from time to time and most of the people who might be reading these are doing so while sitting in their recliners, reading the dead-tree edition and complaining that Matlock can't be found on TV any longer.
Looking around the site at the other stories hidden behind the curtain there doesn't seem to be much that, as a dead-tree subscriber myself, (Wed-Sun) I can't find by turning a page or turning on my iPad. In short, there's little financial incentive for people to pay additional money to buy reporting that's already freely available in the first place. Think about this: The I-35 expansion story just above came from wire reports.
Even worse, despite the fact that I pay for the darn thing it's rarely read except for on Sunday when I spend 10 minutes going through the stories and then my wife spends around 30 minutes cutting out the coupons. Worse still, the "News Plus" section that runs on Sunday is nothing more than post-dated stories that first ran in other publications such as the New York Times (ostensibly still operating under the Constitution) and the Washington Post. (amazingly, still in print)
Look, I get that it's not good to hide a story of a chemical release behind a pay wall. After all, it does little good to be a news outlet when you charge people to learn that they need to take their children inside before they puff up like a helium balloon and start floating in the jet stream to Mobile, but certainly you can find something of worth to place behind the wall that's not already found in other locations, usually for free?
One can only imagine, based on this business model, what the Chron's coverage of the 83rd Texas Legislature is going to resemble. You'll have free photo galleries of the latest burlesque parties for staffers, Eric Berger's prayers to Gaea that something be done on climate control appear for free, while Peggy Fikac's sage advice that Republicans are trying to rent space inside the lady parts of Texas women in order to set up a Winter home, politics from a child's view (Falkenberg) and logical fallacies for dummies (The Gang) are safely snug behind a pay wall where no one can see.
On second though, when viewed that way, carry on Chronicle. Good job.
On the surface, Houston's former newspaper of record slapped on a brave-faced smile, patted themselves on the back for what might as well have been eleventy Billion page views and then proceeded to transfer much of what was already available in the print edition, or the iPad app onto the web, shook hands and, apparently, went off to the latest Houston Media Round-table for a round of shots and pie.
Now, I like pie (especially of the pecan variety) and I'm understanding of the desire for a shot or two, despite my current drinking constitution typically preferring to keep them at arm's length, so I can understand why one would think it's time to say "job well done" and just sit back and watch the revenue come in.
But will it?
First off, there's no value-add to HoustonChronicle.com for a print subscriber who also has an iPad so there's very likely to be much revenue realized from that crowd. Then there's the problem that their free site, Chron.com is still the place for breaking news and the City & County government's, often hilarious responses to it. Also on the "free" site are the Chron's (now infamous) often horrible photo galleries which, as near as I can tell, serve only to allow young hipster staffers in cool eye-wear to let us in on what is fascinating them at the present time. The brain-trust at the Chronicle have also decided to keep the entertainment sections, mostly, on the free site meaning that interested readers will now be able to keep up with the goings on at burlesque parties and Eric Berger's fascination at playing Jr. Weatherman and Ecomentalist true believer. Therefore, I have no doubt that the free portion of the Chronicle empire is sure to maintain their hold as the page-hit news capitol of Houston.
What concerns me, however, is what they've decided to place behind the pay wall.
First, The Apple Dumpling Gang and while it's true the Gang has been slightly less hideous since writing duties ceased to be the sole proprietorship of one Lisa Gray (oh but the Exclamation points!!!!) they're still prone to letting slip a logically tortured doozy from time to time and most of the people who might be reading these are doing so while sitting in their recliners, reading the dead-tree edition and complaining that Matlock can't be found on TV any longer.
Looking around the site at the other stories hidden behind the curtain there doesn't seem to be much that, as a dead-tree subscriber myself, (Wed-Sun) I can't find by turning a page or turning on my iPad. In short, there's little financial incentive for people to pay additional money to buy reporting that's already freely available in the first place. Think about this: The I-35 expansion story just above came from wire reports.
Even worse, despite the fact that I pay for the darn thing it's rarely read except for on Sunday when I spend 10 minutes going through the stories and then my wife spends around 30 minutes cutting out the coupons. Worse still, the "News Plus" section that runs on Sunday is nothing more than post-dated stories that first ran in other publications such as the New York Times (ostensibly still operating under the Constitution) and the Washington Post. (amazingly, still in print)
Look, I get that it's not good to hide a story of a chemical release behind a pay wall. After all, it does little good to be a news outlet when you charge people to learn that they need to take their children inside before they puff up like a helium balloon and start floating in the jet stream to Mobile, but certainly you can find something of worth to place behind the wall that's not already found in other locations, usually for free?
One can only imagine, based on this business model, what the Chron's coverage of the 83rd Texas Legislature is going to resemble. You'll have free photo galleries of the latest burlesque parties for staffers, Eric Berger's prayers to Gaea that something be done on climate control appear for free, while Peggy Fikac's sage advice that Republicans are trying to rent space inside the lady parts of Texas women in order to set up a Winter home, politics from a child's view (Falkenberg) and logical fallacies for dummies (The Gang) are safely snug behind a pay wall where no one can see.
On second though, when viewed that way, carry on Chronicle. Good job.
Disco Green without disco or green.
We all woke up New Year's morning to news that preventing the so-called fiscal cliff involved giving the wind energy industry huge tax credits and pretty much nothing to do with averting anything that would actually have to do with deficits or the items that got us into this mess in the first place. This is American politics in 2012/2013 however so we shouldn't be too surprised by this, knowing as we do that the true reason for this deal was incumbent protection.
Enough of that however. I'm sure that the National pundits are going to have a field day so I'll leave it to them. What does concern me is the state of Houston as 2013 begins.
Folks, It's not that good.
Having a big New Year's Eve party planned down in Discovery Green complete with KC and the Sunshine Band is a nice little thing but it's pretty clear that no one considered the fact that it might rain. Because of this Houston's official New Year's celebration involved (another) Art Car parade and some people up on stage dancing in black spandex and disco wigs. No matter your definition this is not "world class".
Putting on a brave face the Houston Chron tells us that, once again, Inner Loop development is about to explode transforming Houston into a David Crossley envisioned wonder land of multi-family dwellings and business commuters shoe-horned into light rail cars alongside sweaty bicyclists and, presumably, the homeless.
While this all sounds lovely the lack of planning surrounding the NYE party should give you pause. If the city cannot successfully pull off a big bash in the face of a little moisture then what are the odds your Inner-Loop commute is going to devolve into a mud-run adventure when the real rains hit in the Spring? With a MetroRail that can be shut down seemingly by condensation and buses that are having difficulty not hitting pedestrians the future of commuting in Houston might involve Japanese-style sleeping tubes at your office. When you think about it though, if Houston Metro is KC and the Sunshine Band (and I mean no disrespect to the band) then whatever is going to be left over after the rains fall is spandex clad dancers. Besides, Houston has demonstrated a proclivity to not maintaining things over the long-haul and our city is not so built out to be static, so it can't be too long before your workplace is located to somewhere the train won't go.
My advice then is to continue to live where you want to live, in the style of dwelling you want to live in and take the mode of transportation to work that best serves your needs. I understand this might seem like heresy to those of a central planning mindset but it sure beats showing up to work with a muddy tire track down your backside.
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Bringing in 2013 with a whimper
Happy New Year!
I think. As I write this it's lunchtime on the 31st and there are no signs that a deal to keep America from hurling over the fiscal cliff is going to be made. Maybe it's an unhappy new year for you so far, but it shouldn't be. Even if our elected officials can't come to terms on a bill designed to ensure their re-election these tax increases you'll see are sure to be transitory at best. Why? Because once the rates roll up any change will then be re-cast as "middle class tax cuts" which are far more palatable for Tea Party Republicans than are "tax increases for the wealthy". This is politics, and what is done can quickly be undone and it will be undone right before it's time to start campaigning for the mid-term elections.
All of that really leads us to the point of this post: How the media are continually making a mess out of their reporting of the news of the day. We're constantly being reminded how tough the sledding is for traditional media outlets. From the collapse of old-school print media to America's tuning out of network news times are hard for those who used to inform us in regards to the news of the day. For the ordinary news consumer however, things are looking up.
The fact is there are more news outlets providing live, up-to-the-minute updates on the goings-on in the world than ever before. On a promising note, many of them are not for-profit corporations seeking to make money off of that car that crashed into Buffalo Bayou killing 2 while stunned on-lookers ogled the comely female news reader as she applied her make-up. Yes, unfortunately, many of these news outlets are of a Newsish, partisan lean and many are just plain awful but there are some pearls hidden among the swine. As a consumer of news it falls to you to find the good ones and stop visiting the bad.
If, after much searching, you're still a little confused about the difference between good, solid news content let's take a look at today's Chron.com entry page and hopefully we can provide a little direction.
Judge to decide on Women's Health Care Program order. - Good topic, but lazy. The piece offers no detail and one very large piece of editorializing by the writer. I'll just say this: It may be that shutting down Planned Parenthood in Texas is one of the side-effects of their exclusion from the WHC, but it's not the Republicans primary goal here. The primary goal is to prevent abortions, whether the writer thinks that or not.
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian expecting first child. First off: This is not "news". That this is running alongside a story about a search for a missing woman and a statement from the UT-Austin football player allegedly involved in a sexual assault case is embarrassing. ChronBlog is increasingly featuring more and more stories like this on their home page, making the real news harder and harder to find.
Hayes Carlls Burlesque Circus - If there's anything more mind-numbing than the 29.95 "scenesters" pictorials we've yet to find them. On another note: dead-tree media seems fascinated with burlesque. Well, burlesque and roller derby.
New Year's resolutions you can actually keep - Continuing with the pictorial theme, this time in the form of a listicle as well. Not only is the technology they use slow and buggy, but the lists are often just the personal likes and proclivities of the compiler thrown at you with no editing or sense filter.
Montgomery County businessman held in wife's shooting death. - This is the big 'newsmaker' story of the day for Chronblog, and it's given front page, center real estate complete with a very large picture of the businessman in question. The story itself is pretty bare bones, and was probably cribbed off of the police wires while the reporter was sitting at his desk.
There are a lot more stories from which I could choose but I think you get the idea where I'm heading here. From one of Houston's leading news outlets, there's very little actual "news" that a person couldn't receive more rapidly from other sources, with just about the same level of detail. Even worse, what is good is often co-mingled with stories that really aren't. These stories are a desperate cry for page-hits I get that, but that's also part of the problem with news outlets now.
2013 has the potential to be a critical year in regards to the future of not only Texas, but America and the world as well. How we deal with a laundry list of issues is going to determine a lot about our future direction, whether or not the Republic will still resemble itself going forward, and who will be the last person to turn out the lights in France & California. All of these important issues are coming, and that Kim Kardashian is expecting is taking up prime website real estate that could be used laughing at both Team Granola and the Frogs.
This is not just a Houston-centric problem. The guy that everyone points to as Texas' top political reporter is pre-occupied with chastising Dewhurst for moving conservative and predicting the end of a group he never understood in the first place. Texas leading source for left-leaning news-ish content is fixated on the speaker's race to the point of distraction at times while their political "reporting" is nothing more than a liberal opinion piece masquerading as hard news. Part of the problem is that the news reporters get too chummy with those who they cover, so an inside baseball game gets more coverage than its effect on Texans warrants. The speaker's race is very important to politicians who are aiming for choice committee chairs, but it's nowhere near as important as it's made out to be. In reality it's the session's opening monologue, with all of the important bits to follow. As it's currently reported the outcome is the climax, and everything else is falling action.
We've gotten to the point that news is becoming increasingly hard to find, while news-ish and fluff are taking over the Internet. If we, as news consumers, don't demand change soon we might soon find that we've fallen over the fiscal cliff and have landed in a field of artificial fluff. The real fluff causing the sheep distress when they're sheared and all.
Let's come together and make 2013 a better year for news. Even if the news is bad we can all take satisfaction in demanding that it's well-reported.
I think. As I write this it's lunchtime on the 31st and there are no signs that a deal to keep America from hurling over the fiscal cliff is going to be made. Maybe it's an unhappy new year for you so far, but it shouldn't be. Even if our elected officials can't come to terms on a bill designed to ensure their re-election these tax increases you'll see are sure to be transitory at best. Why? Because once the rates roll up any change will then be re-cast as "middle class tax cuts" which are far more palatable for Tea Party Republicans than are "tax increases for the wealthy". This is politics, and what is done can quickly be undone and it will be undone right before it's time to start campaigning for the mid-term elections.
All of that really leads us to the point of this post: How the media are continually making a mess out of their reporting of the news of the day. We're constantly being reminded how tough the sledding is for traditional media outlets. From the collapse of old-school print media to America's tuning out of network news times are hard for those who used to inform us in regards to the news of the day. For the ordinary news consumer however, things are looking up.
The fact is there are more news outlets providing live, up-to-the-minute updates on the goings-on in the world than ever before. On a promising note, many of them are not for-profit corporations seeking to make money off of that car that crashed into Buffalo Bayou killing 2 while stunned on-lookers ogled the comely female news reader as she applied her make-up. Yes, unfortunately, many of these news outlets are of a Newsish, partisan lean and many are just plain awful but there are some pearls hidden among the swine. As a consumer of news it falls to you to find the good ones and stop visiting the bad.
If, after much searching, you're still a little confused about the difference between good, solid news content let's take a look at today's Chron.com entry page and hopefully we can provide a little direction.
Judge to decide on Women's Health Care Program order. - Good topic, but lazy. The piece offers no detail and one very large piece of editorializing by the writer. I'll just say this: It may be that shutting down Planned Parenthood in Texas is one of the side-effects of their exclusion from the WHC, but it's not the Republicans primary goal here. The primary goal is to prevent abortions, whether the writer thinks that or not.
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian expecting first child. First off: This is not "news". That this is running alongside a story about a search for a missing woman and a statement from the UT-Austin football player allegedly involved in a sexual assault case is embarrassing. ChronBlog is increasingly featuring more and more stories like this on their home page, making the real news harder and harder to find.
Hayes Carlls Burlesque Circus - If there's anything more mind-numbing than the 29.95 "scenesters" pictorials we've yet to find them. On another note: dead-tree media seems fascinated with burlesque. Well, burlesque and roller derby.
New Year's resolutions you can actually keep - Continuing with the pictorial theme, this time in the form of a listicle as well. Not only is the technology they use slow and buggy, but the lists are often just the personal likes and proclivities of the compiler thrown at you with no editing or sense filter.
Montgomery County businessman held in wife's shooting death. - This is the big 'newsmaker' story of the day for Chronblog, and it's given front page, center real estate complete with a very large picture of the businessman in question. The story itself is pretty bare bones, and was probably cribbed off of the police wires while the reporter was sitting at his desk.
There are a lot more stories from which I could choose but I think you get the idea where I'm heading here. From one of Houston's leading news outlets, there's very little actual "news" that a person couldn't receive more rapidly from other sources, with just about the same level of detail. Even worse, what is good is often co-mingled with stories that really aren't. These stories are a desperate cry for page-hits I get that, but that's also part of the problem with news outlets now.
2013 has the potential to be a critical year in regards to the future of not only Texas, but America and the world as well. How we deal with a laundry list of issues is going to determine a lot about our future direction, whether or not the Republic will still resemble itself going forward, and who will be the last person to turn out the lights in France & California. All of these important issues are coming, and that Kim Kardashian is expecting is taking up prime website real estate that could be used laughing at both Team Granola and the Frogs.
This is not just a Houston-centric problem. The guy that everyone points to as Texas' top political reporter is pre-occupied with chastising Dewhurst for moving conservative and predicting the end of a group he never understood in the first place. Texas leading source for left-leaning news-ish content is fixated on the speaker's race to the point of distraction at times while their political "reporting" is nothing more than a liberal opinion piece masquerading as hard news. Part of the problem is that the news reporters get too chummy with those who they cover, so an inside baseball game gets more coverage than its effect on Texans warrants. The speaker's race is very important to politicians who are aiming for choice committee chairs, but it's nowhere near as important as it's made out to be. In reality it's the session's opening monologue, with all of the important bits to follow. As it's currently reported the outcome is the climax, and everything else is falling action.
We've gotten to the point that news is becoming increasingly hard to find, while news-ish and fluff are taking over the Internet. If we, as news consumers, don't demand change soon we might soon find that we've fallen over the fiscal cliff and have landed in a field of artificial fluff. The real fluff causing the sheep distress when they're sheared and all.
Let's come together and make 2013 a better year for news. Even if the news is bad we can all take satisfaction in demanding that it's well-reported.
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