Which downtown hotel will be the next to come to the City for TIF for a remodel or expansion?
Will Inn on the Park or the Madison Concourse cry about needing to update their space to compete with the Edgewater?
Or will the Hilton talk about the need to add rooms to support Monona Terrace?
Will the next request be for more than $16 million?
How will the City be able to refuse? After all, if they give new proposals less preferential treatment than they gave Bob Dunn's, it will look like they were playing favorites.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Monday, May 17, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
No Bad Dogs...
...only bad owners. That was the philosophy of the late, great Barbara Woodhouse, an elderly, British dog whisperer for a previous generation. I see her proved right on a regular basis.
If you regularly spend time and energy (and decibels) trying to retrieve a dog that obviously holds you in contempt, you might want to consider keeping that dog tied up instead of just letting him run loose through the neighborhood. It would save you a lot of effort. While most of the neighborhood is more amused than annoyed, there are still a few elderly lawn worshipers on the block who are not above calling animal control. It would be sad to see your dog end up at the Humane Society just because he's smarter than his owner.
If you regularly spend time and energy (and decibels) trying to retrieve a dog that obviously holds you in contempt, you might want to consider keeping that dog tied up instead of just letting him run loose through the neighborhood. It would save you a lot of effort. While most of the neighborhood is more amused than annoyed, there are still a few elderly lawn worshipers on the block who are not above calling animal control. It would be sad to see your dog end up at the Humane Society just because he's smarter than his owner.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
You May Need Those Rights Someday
The recent failed car-bombing attempt in Times Square by a naturalized American citizen from Pakistan has inspired two new proposals to roll back due process rights for terrorism suspects. Attorney General Eric Holder is proposing a limit on Miranda rights for terror suspects. Even more chilling is the U.S. Expatriation Act, a bill sponsored by Senators Scott Brown and Joe Lieberman. The bill would strip citizenship from terror suspects. That's right, not just convicted terrorists, but terror suspects.
Anyone who thinks this will only affect bad guys who have trained in Pakistan is forgetting the stories of Steven Hatfill and Richard Jewell. Hatfill, you may recall, was the scientist whom the FBI assumed was behind the anthrax-laced letters sent in 2001. In a recent interview with Matt Lauer, Hatfill said:
Richard Jewell was also falsely accused by the FBI of a terrorist act, the 1996 Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta. He was just an ordinary guy doing his job, in the wrong place at the wrong time.
If the Brown-Lieberman legislation had been in place, both Hatfill and Jewell may have been shipped to Guantanamo Bay and subjected to "enhanced interrogation" until they confessed (we know that waterboarding can elicit false confessions -- it's what it was originally developed to do). And Bruce Ivins and Eric Rudolph might still be at large, killing people.
Anyone who thinks this will only affect bad guys who have trained in Pakistan is forgetting the stories of Steven Hatfill and Richard Jewell. Hatfill, you may recall, was the scientist whom the FBI assumed was behind the anthrax-laced letters sent in 2001. In a recent interview with Matt Lauer, Hatfill said:
“I love my country,” Hatfill, 56, told Lauer. But, he added, “I learned a couple things. The government can do to you whatever they want. They can break the laws, federallaws , as they see fit … You can’t turn laws on and off as you deem fit. And the Privacy Act laws were put in place specifically to stop what happened to me. Whether we’re at war or have been attacked, the foundation of society is that you hold to the laws in place. I used to be somebody that trusted the government. Now I really don't trust anything.”
If the Brown-Lieberman legislation had been in place, both Hatfill and Jewell may have been shipped to Guantanamo Bay and subjected to "enhanced interrogation" until they confessed (we know that waterboarding can elicit false confessions -- it's what it was originally developed to do). And Bruce Ivins and Eric Rudolph might still be at large, killing people.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
On the Other Hand
I've been thinking recently about the way society has traditionally treated left-handedness. For centuries, favoring the left hand has been considered by many cultures to be evil or unclean. As a result, left-handed children were often forced by their parents and teachers to use their right hand. Britain's future King George VI was forced by his strict father to use his right hand. The younger George developed a severe stammer which plagued him all his life. Baseball players Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth were also forced to use their right hands in childhood. Although they wrote right-handed, their natural southpaw tendencies came out when they hit or threw a baseball.
There are several Biblical passages that are unfavorable of the left hand, and these passages were influential in perpetuating the practice of forcing lefties to go right. To this day, science does not understand what causes left-handedness. It is not hereditary, although there may be a genetic component. The hormonal environment in the womb is another possible cause (high prenatal testosterone levels seem to result in more left-handed children, and older mothers are more likely to have left-handed children). Ultrasound studies show that we seem to develop our lateral orientation in the womb (fetuses favor sucking one thumb or the other, which corresponds to their dominant hand after birth).
Lefties seem to have an advantage in combat sports, probably because they are accustomed to competing against righties, but righties find lefties to be novel and challenging. Despite this, the percentage of true lefties in the population seems to be stable. Various studies estimate it at anywhere from 5% to 15%.
Most Americans nowadays believe that left-handedness is an accident of birth, a minor inconvenience (considering all the modern tools that are designed for righties) that should be simply accepted, and not inherently evil or sinful. Left-handed children can be trained to use their right hands, but they will not excel at it, and their self esteem is likely to suffer. Therefore, most parents and teachers no longer force children to go against their nature, at least with regards to lateral orientation.
Our society is gradually coming around to the idea that sexual orientation is also an accident of birth. Gay youngsters can be forced to behave like straight people, but they do not excel at it. There are still plenty of Bible-thumpers who cite Leviticus as a reason to send their gay children to a deprogramming camp (while they themselves eat bacon-wrapped shrimp, enjoy interest-bearing bank accounts and argue about politics with their own parents), but the Haggard and Rekers scandals are undermining the belief that homosexuality is a choice that can be willed away by faith in God.
If these men, who are in the public eye proclaiming against homosexual behavior and claiming that gay people can be "cured" by faith, are unable to suppress their nature, how can anyone be expected to do so? These men had sex with prostitutes, risking their own health and that of their poor, unwitting wives. It is within the segments of society that are most homophobic that gay men seem to engage in the most risky sex. In the African-American community, the term "on the down-low" was coined for gay men who pretend to be straight but engage in discreet casual sex with other men. I am reminded of the bumper sticker "If Guns Are Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Have Guns."
There are still many who persist in believing that sexual orientation is a choice (as if anyone would choose to be ostracized by society). Younger Americans are more likely to believe that sexual orientation is inborn. That is why there is such a wide gap in attitudes toward gay rights between older and younger conservatives. The politics of division that are practiced by some on the right are actually painting them into a corner. In the short term, they will gain votes (since older people vote in much larger numbers), but in the long-term, their electorate will die off faster than it can be replaced.
There are several Biblical passages that are unfavorable of the left hand, and these passages were influential in perpetuating the practice of forcing lefties to go right. To this day, science does not understand what causes left-handedness. It is not hereditary, although there may be a genetic component. The hormonal environment in the womb is another possible cause (high prenatal testosterone levels seem to result in more left-handed children, and older mothers are more likely to have left-handed children). Ultrasound studies show that we seem to develop our lateral orientation in the womb (fetuses favor sucking one thumb or the other, which corresponds to their dominant hand after birth).
Lefties seem to have an advantage in combat sports, probably because they are accustomed to competing against righties, but righties find lefties to be novel and challenging. Despite this, the percentage of true lefties in the population seems to be stable. Various studies estimate it at anywhere from 5% to 15%.
Most Americans nowadays believe that left-handedness is an accident of birth, a minor inconvenience (considering all the modern tools that are designed for righties) that should be simply accepted, and not inherently evil or sinful. Left-handed children can be trained to use their right hands, but they will not excel at it, and their self esteem is likely to suffer. Therefore, most parents and teachers no longer force children to go against their nature, at least with regards to lateral orientation.
Our society is gradually coming around to the idea that sexual orientation is also an accident of birth. Gay youngsters can be forced to behave like straight people, but they do not excel at it. There are still plenty of Bible-thumpers who cite Leviticus as a reason to send their gay children to a deprogramming camp (while they themselves eat bacon-wrapped shrimp, enjoy interest-bearing bank accounts and argue about politics with their own parents), but the Haggard and Rekers scandals are undermining the belief that homosexuality is a choice that can be willed away by faith in God.
If these men, who are in the public eye proclaiming against homosexual behavior and claiming that gay people can be "cured" by faith, are unable to suppress their nature, how can anyone be expected to do so? These men had sex with prostitutes, risking their own health and that of their poor, unwitting wives. It is within the segments of society that are most homophobic that gay men seem to engage in the most risky sex. In the African-American community, the term "on the down-low" was coined for gay men who pretend to be straight but engage in discreet casual sex with other men. I am reminded of the bumper sticker "If Guns Are Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Have Guns."
There are still many who persist in believing that sexual orientation is a choice (as if anyone would choose to be ostracized by society). Younger Americans are more likely to believe that sexual orientation is inborn. That is why there is such a wide gap in attitudes toward gay rights between older and younger conservatives. The politics of division that are practiced by some on the right are actually painting them into a corner. In the short term, they will gain votes (since older people vote in much larger numbers), but in the long-term, their electorate will die off faster than it can be replaced.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Before Anyone Asks
No, The Sconz is not my son. As far as I know, we're not related at all. Although I did once have a relative (now deceased) who drank a lot of Blatz.
Monday, May 3, 2010
More About Taxpayer Subsidies
This started out as a comment in response to other comments, but it got ridiculously long.
The Monroe Commons TIF was not straightforward. It involved a lot of innovative math to avoid violating the 50 percent limit. There was a large subsidy placed on each condo to pay for the grocery store. The repayment formula was unrealistic to start with, but the Council seems not to have realized that. Yes, the market tanked. Anyone who believed the real estate boom was going to last forever had no business speculating in the market with taxpayer funds. I hope the developer manages to meet the commitment to make up the shortfall.
With regards to Capitol West, the city counted on a sufficient number of condos being sold and added to the property tax rolls. That hasn't yet happened, hence the State Journal reporting "Alexander has no issues with tax payments, but has struggled to sell enough condos to meet obligations for $4.27 million TIF loan."
Overture Center is a huge mess. Its draft budget for 2010-11 has a deficit almost twice as big as MCAD's reserves. Who will make up the shortfall if not the City? The City is also on the hook through 2011 for part of the remaining debt (part of the 2005 refinancing deal). It continues to subsidize the center's operations, much as it did for the Madison Civic Center.
Marc Eisen wrote a terrific story in Isthmus a few years ago on Overture's big mistakes which included this:
Regarding the library, I did mis-state the facts. I should have said "17 million in TIF for a shiny new $37 million library." $37 million was the total amount that the Council approved in the capital budget for the new library (not the total cost of the proposed Fiore mixed-use project though, which would have been $88 million). I apologize for not spotting the error before I published the post. It will be corrected. I have followed the saga of the proposed downtown library fairly closely.
And I never speculated about the age of Monroe Commons condo residents. I was thinking of the patrons of Trader Joe's, the gourmet grocery store that was the reason for the Monroe Commons TIF. Capitol West was the high-rise condo development I had in mind. Regardless of who lives there, it adds a certain urban energy to the look of our downtown.
The Monroe Commons TIF was not straightforward. It involved a lot of innovative math to avoid violating the 50 percent limit. There was a large subsidy placed on each condo to pay for the grocery store. The repayment formula was unrealistic to start with, but the Council seems not to have realized that. Yes, the market tanked. Anyone who believed the real estate boom was going to last forever had no business speculating in the market with taxpayer funds. I hope the developer manages to meet the commitment to make up the shortfall.
With regards to Capitol West, the city counted on a sufficient number of condos being sold and added to the property tax rolls. That hasn't yet happened, hence the State Journal reporting "Alexander has no issues with tax payments, but has struggled to sell enough condos to meet obligations for $4.27 million TIF loan."
Overture Center is a huge mess. Its draft budget for 2010-11 has a deficit almost twice as big as MCAD's reserves. Who will make up the shortfall if not the City? The City is also on the hook through 2011 for part of the remaining debt (part of the 2005 refinancing deal). It continues to subsidize the center's operations, much as it did for the Madison Civic Center.
Marc Eisen wrote a terrific story in Isthmus a few years ago on Overture's big mistakes which included this:
Mistake #4: Not programming enough free events. Paul Kosidowski, writing in these pages a few weeks ago, pointed out how crucial the old Crossroads was to the Civic Center for casually pulling the public into the building for children's shows. (It also, I would add, served as a short-cut to traverse the downtown.) The Crossroads functioned surprisingly well as a town square within the building.While Overture's resident community arts groups have indeed increased their offerings (both in number and scale), a number of other community arts groups have struggled.
Overture so far has no similar democratizing feature, and this only adds to complex's hoity-toity stand-offishness. This is not good. Not only because Frautschi dedicated the arts complex to the whole community, but because at some point the community may be asked to dig into its pockets to maintain Overture.
Regarding the library, I did mis-state the facts. I should have said "17 million in TIF for a shiny new $37 million library." $37 million was the total amount that the Council approved in the capital budget for the new library (not the total cost of the proposed Fiore mixed-use project though, which would have been $88 million). I apologize for not spotting the error before I published the post. It will be corrected. I have followed the saga of the proposed downtown library fairly closely.
And I never speculated about the age of Monroe Commons condo residents. I was thinking of the patrons of Trader Joe's, the gourmet grocery store that was the reason for the Monroe Commons TIF. Capitol West was the high-rise condo development I had in mind. Regardless of who lives there, it adds a certain urban energy to the look of our downtown.
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