Yep, for the first time in 31 years, one Canadian Loonie will get you one US Dollar. The upside, I suppose, is that you don’t have to feel ripped off if you get one of those funny little quarters in your change . . .
Category: Policy Page 29 of 35
A recent DC Examiner piece noted that Ron Carlee, Arlington’s County Manager, recently submitted a memo to the Arlington County Board on the impact of immigration on the administration of government in Arlington. From the memo (PDF):
“Much has been reported lately of an immigration ‘problem’ in parts of Northern Virginia. There is no such ‘problem’ in Arlington County,†County Manager Ron Carlee wrote in a Sept. 11 memo. “Much of what is being said about immigration is political rhetoric during a hotly contested campaign season.â€
This is exactly right. Mr. Carlee goes on to lay out the facts:
 During a time of rapidly increasing diversity, we have experienced the following:
- The lowest crime rate in our history.
- The most rapid increase in property values in our history – now stabilized.
- Some of the best schools in the nation.
- Some of the highest incomes in the nation.
- Full employment resulting in labor shortages.
- Extensive private commercial investment.
- Expansion of retail and leisure activities.
- Lowest tax rate among major jurisdictions in Northern Virginia.
I’d like to see more local governments taking the time to make similarly honest and public statements about the actual impact of immigration in those jurisdictions.
and then read this groundbreaking ABC report about the FBI’s DCSNet nationwide evesdropping systems. In case your eyes are glazing over, and you don’t think it applies to you, note that:
The surveillance system, called DCSNet, for Digital Collection System Network, connects FBI wiretapping rooms to switches controlled by traditional land-line operators, internet-telephony providers and cellular companies. It is far more intricately woven into the nation’s telecom infrastructure than observers suspected.
It’s a “comprehensive wiretap system that intercepts wire-line phones, cellular phones, SMS and push-to-talk systems,” says Steven Bellovin, a Columbia University computer science professor and longtime surveillance expert.
Virginia Del. Kris Amundson (D-Fairfax) recently asked what we think she might want to share with the National Conference of State Legislatures attendees at their annual conference in Boston. She’ll be on a panel called “New Ways to Communicate with Your Constituents.†She’s received some good answers already, so I’ll stick with a few big picture themes, and then a couple of tips on direct interaction.
Big picture:
- It’s not about blogging. Or email. Or whatever might come next. It’s about communication. While blogs have received an inordinate amount of attention in recent years, they’re just another means of communication. Now, true, they’re a more widely accessible pathway than we’ve ever seen before, but – like going door to door, answering the phone, or hosting town meetings – its reason for being is communication amongst citizens and their representatives. Don’t lose sight of that.
- Communication is not simply declaration. That is, communication is a two-way street. Don’t embrace a medium – like blogs – that is designed for two-way communication if you only intend to use it for a one-way broadcast of your own message. If you start your own blog, or even have your own website – but fail to respond to queries and challenges directed at it – people will ignore it. You might as well stick with direct mail.
- Think about how you can encourage your own state and local governments to make information accessible to citizens. For example, Arlington, Virginia has an online database of all of its capital improvements projects – you can look up all bike-related projects in the planning pipeline, all scheduled projects for a particular street, or all projects still in the planning phase. Not only does this encourage good government by increasing transparency, it’s a resource that you can direct your constituents toward, so that your constituent service office can focus on communicating about policy goals, instead of serving simply as a factual information conduit.
A few practical tips:
- If you’re going to start a blog, make sure you are committed to regularly updating it. It sounds simple, to be sure, but there are an amazing number of state and local politicians that have started blogs only to let them fall by the wayside after the first few weeks. At first, it annoys the constituents. And then it becomes the butt of jokes (see, e.g., DC Mayor Anonthy William’s blog) .
- Before agreeing to “live blog” somewhere, check out the reputation of the blog’s primary author(s). Much like you wouldn’t want to show up for a speaking engagement at a Klan dinner or the Concerned Communists of America, you also don’t want to appear to lend credibility to a site that seems to exist primarily as a tool of hate or misinformation. That said, every blog community has anonymous commenters who seem to exist for the sole purpose of saying outrageous things. Pay them no mind, and don’t judge a site by the appearance of a couple of these troublemakers.
- Acknowledge the hard questions. If, via the comments on your blog or in a “live blog” situation, you get a politically awkward question, you should make a reasonable attempt to answer it – especially if everyone else has seen the question posted. Simply ignoring a question won’t make it go away. And unlike a press conference or conversation with a reporter, the unanswered question doesn’t just fade away – there’s a permanent and public record of it.
You know, I could go on for weeks about this. I’ve worked in state and federal government. My day job consists primarily of bridging the gap between the private and public sectors. I’ve been “blogging” for nearly a decade. I’m convinced that government could be substantially improved with increased transparency and honest communication between citizens and their representatives. So thanks, Del. Amundson, for taking the time to ask. And then thanks again, for taking the message to Boston.
So, with Sen. Jim Webb’s vote, the Senate passed a measure that “broaden[s] the ability to eavesdrop without warrants on communications that are primarily “foreign†in nature, even if they may touch on Americans’ phone calls and e-mail.” In doing so, they capitulated to a President who has shown, over and over again, that he cannot be trusted to respect American’s most basic rights.
I know that Sen. Webb knows that Bush can’t be trusted. I also know that he’s not stupid enough to be bamboozled by the sky-is-falling act the Administration goes through every time it wants something. What I don’t know is what in the world would move Webb to give more power to a President and Attorney General who have absolutely no respect for the law.
So what your problem, Jim Webb? Do you think that your constituents are so stupid that they’ll demand that you give Bush everything he wants? Do you just not give a damn about the Constitution? Or was it just easier for you?
I think you owe us an answer.
Background for those who are interested:
Marty Lederman’s analysis of the bill
The Director of National Intelligence and Dems agreed on a bill, Bush threw a fit, Dems capitulated.
Update: Here’s Webb’s statement on the matter. It’s as appalling as I expected. And the apologists should really be ashamed, falling all over themselves to make excuses (and what’s really sad is that they sound just like the Republicans they spent so much time and effort berating.
ARLINGTON, Va. – A 19-year-old woman is facing up to a year in jail and a fine up to $2,500 when she goes to trial this month on charges of illegally recording part of a motion picture.
Jhannet Sejas readily admits she used her digital camera last month in an Arlington theater to film about 20 seconds of the climax of the hit movie “Transformers.” She said she wanted to show the clip to her little brother and had no intention of selling it.
But minutes after filming the clip, police showed up in the theater, shining a flashlight in her face. Sejas and her boyfriend were ordered out, and the camera was confiscated.
Just an overzealous usher and bored police, right? Well:
Arlington County police spokesman John Lisle said the theater wanted to prosecute the case, which is a first for the police department.
“They were the victim in this case, and they felt strongly enough about it,” Lisle said.
That’s right. A crappy 20 second video clip victimizes Regal Entertainment Group (Second quarter 2007 gross revenues of $684 million). Another blow to the beleaguered forces of overbroad copyright claims. How will they ever survive?
This is the closest theater to me, and while it’s not my favorite in the area, I’ve often used it out of convenience. In fact, I’d made plans to see a movie there tonight. Forget it. For tonight and every other night. I’d urge you to do the same.* Better environments and movies can be found at Landmark’s E Street Cinema, Arlington Cinema and Draft House, or even the AMC Theatre in Courthouse.
Update: check out the WaPo story for additional details and some choice quotes. From the general counsel of the theater owners’ association: “We cannot educate theater managers to be judges and juries in what is acceptable[.]” Well, there you go.
*And let them know why. You can contact Regal Entertainment Group corporate offices at:
7132 Regal Lane, Knoxville, Tennessee, 37918.
Corporate phone: 1-865-922-1123
Fax: 1-865-922-3188
Customer relations number: 1-877-TELLREGAL or 1-877-835-5734.
One of the top thinkers in security – Bruce Schneier – interviews Kip Hawley, head of the Transportation Safety Administration. Kip Hawley, who is less than popular with thinking travelers, gives us special insight into TSA wisdom:
So what would the justification be for prohibiting lip gloss, nasal spray, etc? There was none, other than for our own convenience and the sake of a simple explanation.
Well, I sure am glad that the TSA wasn’t inconvenienced. Lord, can you imagine the stress of inconvenience, in an airport? It gets better. In response to Schneier asking Hawley why, if our liquids are so dangerous, they’re thrown into a giant barrel in the middle of the security area, Hawley tells us:
If the TSO throws your liquids in the trash, they don’t find you a threat.
Then if I’m not a threat, why did you just throw my )(*#@#@ Diet Coke away? I give Kip Hawley credit for submitting to an interview with Schneier, but he’s still an idiot. Read the interview here.
So there are big storms rolling in (which is why I’m here, instead of out grilling), and the National Park Police decided to evacuate the Mall.  I’d be a little ticked if I were one of those poor sods that arrived at 10am to stake out a primo spot in the shadow of the Washington Monument, but it sounds like the prudent thing to do. So nothing noteworthy there. But then – get this – the evacuation plan actually *worked*. People calmly filed into a number of pre-selected buildings surrounding the Mall, where the plan is to wait until the storm passes, and then make a mad dash for spots on the Mall.  Now, I don’t know about you, but I can’t recall the last time a Federal emergency response plan anticipated a problem, addressed it adequately, and was then executed correctly. But it happened today. There may yet be blue skies ahead . . .
If you’re interested in understanding what actually happened in today’s Supreme Court decisions on school desegregation, I highly recommend reading this discussion at Slate. It’s a conversation between three people. First, there is Dahlia Lithwick, a reporter who regularly covers the Supreme Court. I’ve grown from a detractor into a fan, over the years. I think she does a good job of translating the language of the Court into something that is meaningful to the public at large. Her regular partner in these discussions is Walter Dellinger, an actively practicing appellate lawyer with a resume that would make a Chief Justice blush. I’ve always been terribly impressed with his explanations of Supreme Court decisions, and Slate is lucky to have such insightful analysis on its pages. Finally, in the interests of balance, they’ve brought in Stuart Taylor, a conservative writer who generally concurred with the Court’s actions. I think some of his analysis is a bit simplistic, but it’s an honest contribution to the conversation. Do check it out.
There’s a great discussion going on over at TPMCafe on the new book, Charm Offensive: How China’s Soft Power Is Transforming the World
I don’t see China as the second (third? fourth?) wave of the Red Scare, but I do think that it’s very much worth paying attention to. In my view, it embodies capitalism (as practised) at its most brutal, and that those of us who think capitalism provides a good path forward need to consider many of the tough issues raised in doing business with China. If IP standards are important enough to be internationally observed, why not labor standards? Why is China making so much progress in Africa? Did China’s bid to control the Panama Canal threaten the US? Check out the book and jump in, if you like.
Picture taken from the Bund, on my 2004 trip to Shanghai. More photos from that trip here.