Don't Go There

As the holiday season draws near many of us are in the midst of making our travel plans, but before you make those reservations or hit the road you should consult Peter Greenberg’s new book Don't Go There!: The Travel Detective's Essential Guide to the Must-Miss Places of the World (Paperback).

Greenberg spoke today at the Commonwealth Club of California about how to travel better, faster and cheaper, even during these harsh economic times. The former Newsweek writer and onetime travel editor for NBC’s “Today Show,” Greenberg has spent much of his life and career on the go, and now he is sharing the secrets of traveling well. His talk revealed much of “what locals will tell you if you asked, but travel guides won’t.”

Covering all 50 states and at least 50 foreign countries, Greenberg brings a humorous style to some of the more serious issues of traveling, like piracy, terrorists and airport security. But his comedic style only enhances what might otherwise be a depressing look at what’s wrong with a globe’s worth of destinations.

What’s the key to effective traveling? According to Greenberg, “It’s all about not listening to the rules. The rules are arbitrary and going to you get you in trouble every time.” He advises travelers to be contrarians, particularly when it involves going against the flow of airport traffic. “Why look at the departure board when checking to see if your flight is on time?” Greenberg asks. Those boards haven’t been right since 1963. Travelers should instead check the arrival board for their gate to see if a plane is there. If not, he says, why make the trek down the terminal only to be disappointed by an inevitable delay?

Although it may seem counterintuitive, Greenberg also suggests that when travelers arrive for a departure flight they enter at the arrival level, and vice versa when their flight arrives at an airport. His logic? Full flights lead to long lines, congestion and slow security. Entering and exiting the airport against the flow of traffic will help travelers arrive speedily at their destinations, with far less stress.

Also, when preparing to leave for the airport, Greenberg reminds travelers to print their boarding pass and check-in online to streamline the airport experience. He also recommends that travelers program the airline’s 800 number into their mobile phone. That way, should they run into unexpected delays at the airport, or worse find their flight canceled, they can avoid the lines at the ticketing counter and rearrange their travel plans over the phone while fellow passengers scramble to talk to an agent in person.

Instead of landing his readers in jail with his ‘don’t follow the rules’ mantra, Greenberg’s spin helps travelers tweak their expectations for particular destinations and insists that being informed about where you’re going is the best offense to both domestic and international travel.

Don’t Go There highlights the human element of traveling and recommends calling hotels directly and contacting airlines before purchasing online. He not only encourages travelers to FedEx their luggage to their destination beforehand, rather than check their bags, but to befriend ticket and gate agents at airports they depart from frequently.

Get to know their names. Don’t ask them for anything. Be nice. Say thank you. Greenberg says agents tend to remember you positively and are more willing to pass along essential information concerning your travel itinerary and the like. Not because you asked them for the low down, but simply because you were nice.

America's Toughest Sheriff

Sheriff Arpaio of Maricopa County, Arizona, appeared on CNN this afternoon. He stood behind the way he runs his prisons and how things run differently in Arizona. Punishment is harsher there and less niceties prance around the county jail. Maybe the rest of the nation should follow the example of Maricopa County.

I am so sorry that inadequate medical care is provided prisoners, but at least they get medical care on a regular and ongoing basis. It's tragic that prisoners find their food distasteful, despite their access to proper nutrition. Maybe I should start a non-profit to help make their lives more comfortable. Oh, wait, prison isn't meant to be pleasant; it's meant to punish, to serve as a deterrent to criminals and would-be-criminals.

Arizona has the right idea. Inmates should find prison uncomfortable, stressful and intense. We should stop wasting our time and resources improving the living conditions those who have violated the law and spend a little more energy worrying about supplying our children with medical care and making sure they have access to nutritious meals and sanitary living conditions.

Youthful Delusions

An Ethics of Delusion. While it describes the CEO and management ethics we saw when representatives of Detroit's Big Three and other institutions seeking bailouts testified before Congress, it also illustrates the ethics of America's youth.

According to the results of a survey conducted by the Josephson Institute, a Los Angeles based ethics institute, more than a third of male students admitted to stealing (35%) from a store in the past year, matched by slightly more than a quarter of girls (26%). About ten percent fewer of each group also admitted to stealing from a friend (26% of boys and 14% of girls). Great.

Sixty four percent of the 29,760 students surveyed, from 100 public and private schools nationwide selected at random, admitted to cheating on a test. More than 30% acknowledged plagiarizing work from the Internet. More than 80% lied to their parents about "something significant," in the last year.

So, we're raising a nation of liers, cheaters and thieves. What's ironic about this is that 93% of the students surveyed said they were comfortable with their character and satisfied with their personal ethics. What's more, 77% confirmed that, "when it comes to doing what is right, I am better than most people I know."

Perhaps the 77% are among the majority that do not admit to stealing from friends, but the math doesn't work out as well when it comes to the 64% that cheat or the 83% that lie. Delusions of ethical behavior plague our society from the top down and from the bottom up.

The question remains: What are we going to do about it? If we continue to permissively dismiss the ills done at the top and financially reward such misbehavior, we will continue to send a message to younger generations that it's perfectly acceptable for them to be satisfied with their personal ethics and character despite their moral shortcomings and selfish motives.

Airport Travel & the Holiday Season

Holiday travel is lighter than usual this holiday season, with gas prices falling and economic uncertainty rising. I am sitting in Oakland International Airport, enjoying the free Wi-fi and waiting for my flight to board. The airport is no more crowded, in fact perhaps less crowded, than when I flew in July.

Central Market & the Blue Bottle Cafe -- San Francisco

San Francisco's Central Market neighborhood flies flags touting its existence and its status as a Community Benefit District. The flag flying effort began in July, in an effort for the Central Market Community Benefit District (CMCBD) to promote the district’s "diverse offerings while strengthening neighborhood identity." Classy.

Little more than a year after the district -- which runs from 5th St. to 9th St. along the south side of Market Street -- was born, it is still rife with street dwellers and the stench of urine. Ah, the inconveniences we endure in the trendy new district where boarded up buildings accentuate the urban chic of coffee houses and tucked away night spots.

Take the Blue Bottle Cafe, off Mission St., down Mint St. at the end of Jessie Alley, it is the epitome of self-important startup culture and the impromptu caffeinated chattiness on which they thrive.

Two walls lined with cheap gray cabinetry flow into pale, off-blue shelving. The shelves hosts an array of pricey coffee-inspired accouterments. A rounded black counter, topped with a high-end line espresso station faces the door.

The baristas wear black and look self-absorbed, inspired by their craft and their attentive, thirsty audience. They don't merely serve coffee here, they serve an experience. That may well describe most of the businesses within the CMCBD, but such an image may not survive an economy less impressed by the experience of service than the value of its price tag.

David Kittle is a Bad, Bad Man

I hate David Kittle, the chairman of Mortgage Bankers Association. He is smug and self-righteous. He talked about "personal responsibility" and his own "prudent decisions" when confronted with questions from Sen. Dick Durbin.

It's easy to be prudent with your finances when you make more than $2 million per year. Yes, that gives you the means to survive on your savings for 14 months and keep up with your multi-room penthouse, luxury vehicles and your annual charity donations.

I'm not sure how he can feel no responsibility (moral or otherwise) for the mortgage crisis that is overwhelming this country. I hope his mother is dead, so she won't have to see the monster her son has grown into.

Congress Hears Cries of a Bleeding Industry

The auto industry is critically important to America’s economy, but their business model is an obvious failure. Allowing the auto industry to implode would further destabilize the American economy; this isn't really an option.

That was the consensus of the Senate hearing on Government Assistance for the U.S. Auto Industry. Most members of the Senate committee, Democrats and Republicans alike, agreed that the 25 billion dollars Congress appears ready to hand over to the auto industry would only serve as a band-aid for an industry in the throws of death.

The auto industry’s plea for congressional resuscitation required a deathbed promise: the industry must provide a plan that proves how the industry will use the funds and a guarantee that it will not return for another hand out anytime soon.

Sen. Charles Schumer promoted bandaging the bleeding industry in an effort to save jobs and stabilize the economy. "While I believe that the auto industry is too vital to let fail...we must be assured that what ever aid we give you is accompanied by a plan that will prevent auto executives from returning for another hand out in the future."

Self Congratulations for All: Senators & Banks

Why did the Senate hearing on how the financial institutions used federal bailout funds sound like a lot of self congratulations? Maybe because that's what it was. The hearing gave representatives from big financial players (JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs) an opportunity to tout their successes and marginalize their role in the recent financial debacle.

Of course none of the banks providing executives with bonuses paid for with money from Capital Purchase Program. Duh. The program explicitly forbids using money this way. It warrants no gold star.

Foreclosure Disaster: 20-30x Worse than Katrina!

Last Thursday, CNNMoney.com reported that another 279,561 homes sunk into the foreclosure abyss -- from foreclosure filings to notices of default, auction and repossessions -- in October. That's an increase of 5% from the previous month and 25% higher than October foreclosures in 2007. Yikes! And 56,954 of those foreclosures were in California alone!

New York Senator Charles Schumer wagged his finger at the Treasury Department for insufficiently regulating the money allocated by Congress to help stave off economic crisis and increase the liquidity in the market. He advocated that future mergers, aided by T.A.R.P. money, be approved by Treasury.

Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs, oh my! Please, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., use your Committee on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs to save America from a disaster that promises to be 20-30 times worse than Hurricane Katrina!

Prevent Foreclosures? Not the Treasury Dept.

Neel Kashkari testified before the House Oversight Subcommittee of Domestic Policy on Friday. Kashkari touted the Treasury Department's "accomplishments" in terms of T.A.R.P.'s effectiveness and pretended to answer questions of committee members.

(When he said "I am happy to answer your questions," I wanted to ask him how much he paid for his suit, likely more than an average American makes in two weeks.)

Dennis Kucinich, the subcommittee chairman, ripped into Kashkari like a rabid dog or a Diet Coked-out soccer mom after a questionable call. Kucinich took the Treasury Department to task for its decision to give preference to Wall Street while turning a blind eye to Main Street. With millions of people already in foreclosure, and millions more on the verge, Kucinich chastised Kashkari for the Treasury Dept's decision to give banks free reign for spending their bailout funds, rather than requiring banks to direct the funds to preventing home foreclosure.

Kucinich linked the Treasury Department's approach to the Republican favored trickle down economics and noted that this policy too often leaves the poor poor and, in this case, homeless. Kashkari bobbed and weaved his way through Kucinich's questions and stuck to the Treasury Department's line that maintains they spent the money Congress gave them, even though they promised Congress to spend it on something else.

The ranking member of the subcommittee, Darrell Issa, asked point blank, whether Kashkari had lied to Congress. Kashkari's response blamed Sec. of Treasury Paulson for the decision. Great, Kashkari's the only one who has a buck and he's passing it.

Dennis Kucinich lays the smack down

Chairman for the House Oversight Subcommittee on Domestic Policy, Dennis Kucinich, took Sec. of Treasury Hank Paulson to task Friday afternoon. Ripping into the Treasury Department's decision to override the intent of Congress's T.A.R.P. (a.k.a The Bailout) legislation.

How the money should be used isn't laid out in specific terms. But both the committee chairman and Rep Darrell Issa (R-CA) were furious at the Treasury Department's disregard for the crisis so many American homeowners face: losing their homes.

Elijah Cummings (D-Maryland) noted that AIG doesn't in fact understand how the rest of America is fairing amidst this credit crisis as it continues to ask for congregational funds. AIG continues to pay bonuses and lavish salaries to its employees, and has yet to announce expansive job cuts. The Treasury Department, Cummings alleges, that it is the lack of oversight and "inviable hand" market aproach has cost the America its status as an economic juggernaut. "This administration," said Cummings, "wants to privatize Wall Streets gains and socialize Wall Streets losses." This, in his eyes, and judging form the tone of the comments the rest of the subcommittee, is unacceptable.

Lies the Financial Industry Told Me

"I believe the programs that we currently have in place will handle the majority of the default situations," Michael Gross said Wednesday during a House hearing on preventing mortgage foreclosures. Gross currently serves in Bank of America’s Loan Administration, as the Managing Director of Loss Mitigation. He bares the typical, self-assured confidence of white men of a certain age (think George Bush, but slightly more articulate).

As he, and other financial gurus, answer questions from members of the House, he shows no signs of guilt or shame. Nor does he offer more than wordy subterfuge: an olive branch for the representatives to take back to their districts. Thanks, but no thanks Mr. Gross.

Gross, along with representatives of JPMorgan Chase, American Securitization, Citi Financial, claims homeowners know they are in a position to negotiate with their loan provider. However, the increase of foreclosures presents a stark contrast to his claim. And when you look at the details of Gross’s promise to negotiate with consumers in, or on the verge of, default, you’ll see that if other credit problems exist then financial instructions rescind the renegotiation offer.

The financial institutions know the majority of Americans carry between $8,000 and $13,000 in credit card dept alone. They’re the ones that set the terms. If credit card debt, with default interest rates on credit cards standing on average (for first time offenders) as more than 18%, precludes individuals from the minimum terms required for renegotiation it seems unlikely that owner occupied homes will be saved as a result of the so called bailout.

House Hearing: Preventing Home Mortgage Foreclosures

Banking executives faced both long winded and technically specific questions Wednesday, as several representatives of the home lending fiscal sat before members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Of primary concern was the issue of standardization that would extend default requirements beyond those currently required of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Homeowners may renegotiate their mortgage or request modification of their home loan only after they have missed three mortgage payments but have yet to file for chapter 7 or 13 bankruptcy.

The issue here is two fold. First, the inchoate manner in which some homeowners are currently receiving help via private banks needs standardization. Second, federal refinancing allows renegotiation after three late mortgage payments and that help, when it comes as all, is often too late.

Representative Jackie Speier (D-Ca, 12 District) noted the fallibility of a system that lets lenders off the hook: "When you don't have any skin in the game it's easy to conduct yourself in a risky and irresponsible manner." True that.

Fast Company: Could Recycling Invade Your Privacy?

Could recycling invade your privacy? In short, the answer is yes!
An article by Anya Kamenetz ("Attack of the Green-Tech Geeks"), in this month's Fast Company, discusses several technologies used to quantify--and improve--"green" living. While environmentally useful such technology may fundamentally alter life as we know it.

The technology targets large municipalities and other corporate types that need to predict energy usage but it has a broader affect on residential consumers. According to the article: "Thirty five years of studies about home energy show that simply seeing the impact of your behavior in real time cuts consumption by %5 to %15."

That said, Agilewaves offers a product that is installed in homes, by homeowners, to monitor energy use, including water, electricity and natural gas. The information can be accessed in real time by customers and details such measures as whether clients showered during peak energy periods.

Take for instance a vacationing family. The system would detail zero, or significantly reduced, use of water, electricity and gas. A hacker might find this information useful for, say, throwing a house party, if not staging a robbery. A lot of private information would be chronicled and archived via such technology, including behavior patterns, say, when a family eats dinner or how long they spend online or in front of the TV. Were such information to be sold, and I'm not saying it will, it would prove advantageous to a variety of marketers.

Though you might find the ability to monitor your household's energy use via Blackberry a money saving tool, you should remember to keep in mind that you are not the only one privy to this information. Take the technology developed by RecycleBank for instance. The company sells its technology to your city, who then embeds chips into your trash and recycling bins. These chips measure the amount of refuse you produce and how much you recycle. Trash and recycling trucks are also equipped with readers that transmit the chip's data to a remote server. There, an algorithm converts the weight of your trash and recycling into points and measures things like your carbon foot print. Sure you can log in and view this information, but it could also be used to hike your rate or fine you for producing too much waste.

The kicker is, the trash and recycling companies don't have to ask your permission to install the chips! Environmentally sound may not always sound acceptable to those who value their privacy.

Sarah Palin: What Next?

Bleak weather and crowds of loyal supporters greeted Alaska governor Sarah Palin upon her return home to Anchorage on Wednesday. Gov. Palin's enthusiastic welcome home in Alaska mirrors the enthusiasm of McCain insiders who wished her farewell While Palin denies reports of tension between her and Senator McCain, the rumors continue.
At this point Sarah Palin might find life as Alaska's governor a bit dull. The fever for her remains hot and she should take full advantage of it. She could do a number of things that would allow her to satisfy the many republicans' insatiable desire for her.

For instance, Palin could easily jump into some stilettos and a slinky little dress and do Dancing with the Stars. While her fans may not have numbered enough to elect her veep, they may be able to keep her on Dancing with the Stars through the finale. Perhaps Todd could get on the show too, though he may be a little too lumbering to glide across the dance floor as gracefully as his wife.

I'm waiting to see the E Network or FoxNews develop a reality show around the Palins. They've got everything a reality show needs. Meet Todd: champion snowmobile racer, small business owner, and father of five. His son Track: good looking, 18 year-old, serving in the military. The three girls: Bristol, an unwed, pregnant, teenager; sisters Willow, 14, and Piper, 7. And let's not forget baby Trig, the "special needs" child she spoke about often on the campaign. And of course Sarah Palin, herself, the outspoken, oil-hungry, hockey mom who may be credited for being the dead weight that sunk McCain's political career in favor of forwarding her own.

To recap: the family has a retarded baby, a solider, a snowmobile racer, a pregnant kid, and a mother who should never be a heartbeat away from the presidency. The show could be a gentle mix of "The Kardashians," (self absorbed, stupid and fashion obsessed), "Denise Richards: It's Complicated" (a pretty hick, prone to swearing and tantrums), and "The Osbornes" (teen rebellion, befuddled parenting and incoherence). I like it. Where's Fox's development department when they're needed.

Buses, Buses and More Buses

In the past two days I've been on ten buses. I've spent three hours on the bus, and that's all in San Francisco. Back and forth. Back and forth.

San Francisco Votes: Proposition H

San Francisco - Proposition H is complicated. Its headline in the voter guide demonstrates the complexity: "Setting Clean Energy Deadlines; Studying Options for Providing Energy; Changing Revenue Bond Authority to Pay for Public Utility Facilities."

Three actions hinge on this proposition, but the first two appear unnecessary. Don't we already have a law (or laws) that set clean energy deadlines? And isn't "Studying Options for Providing Energy," inherent to the role of the Public Utilities Commission?

Well Yes on H would "require the PUC to evaluate making the City the primary provider of electric power in San Francisco." Requiring an evaluation means wasting a lot of time and money into a review process that has no significant outcome. Clearly the City makes more money selling the excess power from its Hetch Hetchy facilities in Tuolumne County to customers other than residents of San Francisco. Were not the costs and benefits of making the City the primary provider of electricity weighed when the initial decision to sell the power else where was made? If not, how, and why, would citizens of San Francisco vote more authority to such an inept and self-serving body?

The primary catch to Proposition H is the power it allocates to the Board of Supervisors. A yes vote on H allows the Board to approve the issuance of revenue bonds to pay for any public utility facilities without voter approval. The rhetoric of a green future may feel enticing. It may be less enticing, however, if that promise of green energy requires voters sign a blank check to the Board of Supervisors. This will be the case if voters pass Prop. H.

Fear-Mongering on the Campaign Trail

While Barack Obama's text message campaign is both excessive (daily texts to promote voter action) and annoying (unsolicited, self-promoting texts) they aren't frightening. Plus there's little chance a text message will confront an unintended target. Not so with McCain's robo-calls. And that's intentional.

John McCain knows first hand that scare tactics work. Robo calls dealt a fatal blow when McCain challenged George W. Bush in the 2000 Republican presidential primaries. When faced with robo calls during his 2000 presidential bid McCain said: "I promise you I have never and will never have anything to do with that kind of political tactic."

Yet, when asked about his previous comments in recent interviews on FOX, CNN and MSNBC McCain supported his campaign's use of robo calls. He continues to vehemently defend the content of the calls, which indicts Democratic rival Barack Obama for his relationship with 60s radical Bill Eyers, as "absolutely true."

McCain points out that Obama and Eyers served together on the board of the Woods Foundation of Chicago. They did. But McCain's indictment implies that the Woods Foundation is a sinister, anti-American institution and fails to mention the Woods Foundation is a philanthropic organization devoted to poverty relief and the promotion of social mobility. Don't we want poverty relief and social mobility, Mr. McCain?

While Barack Obama and William Eyers served on the Woods Foundation board together, Obama also denounced Eyers's involvement with the Weathermen and the group's violent -- and deadly -- anti-war activity during the Vietnam War. Yet McCain's robo calls imply that the relationship between Obama and Eyers was social (i.e. Obama 'pals around with terrorists') rather than professional. The calls also imply that Obama was a party to the terrorist agenda because Obama "worked closely" with Eyers. A man, the calls say, "whose organization bombed the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon and a judge's office and killed Americans." The calls draw a direct link between Barack Obama and terrorism, failing to clarify that Obama was only eight-years-old when these acts of domestic terrorism occurred.

Robo calls prey on the most vulnerable members of the electorate: the under-educated and ill informed. It's unconscionable that John McCain has resorted to the tactics he denounced during his Maverick days. Even more so, McCain hired the man who engineered the fear-mongering robo call attacks against him in the 2000 primaries to do so.

The John McCain of 2000 understood that those who vote out of fear, or inspire others to do so, do a disservice to themselves and the ideal of democracy. In February of 2000 McCain said: "If all you run are negative attack ads you don't have much of a vision for the future or you're not ready to articulate it. Apparently the John McCain of 2008 has forgotten this.

Brush Revolution

Those eyes, so vibrant and alluring. They draw you in and that flash of lash whispers about a secret. Her secret. Perhaps she'll share it. Can you get close enough to slip beneath the covered lashes? To slip into her world? Maybe she's born with it. Maybe it's Mabelline.

This sort of gimmicky advertising is why I have a love-hate relationship with mascara.

It's not that I love to hate it, but I love it and I hate it. Who am I kidding right? We do look better with mascara. So in my constant pursuit to cast myself as an object worthy of appreciation, I'm constantly buying new mascara. My relentless desire to attain "the look" of the moment keeps me from throwing out the old ones. I have maybe eight tubes of mascara at all times that I'm willing to use. I'll toss the really old ones when they start to smell like tire rubber; there's no way I'm swiping that brush anywhere near my eyes.

Maybe it's because the less expensive brands do all the marketing that I'm not much for designer mascara. I've yet to see one with an ultra high price tag work much better than cheaper versions. Go to Sephora and try it for yourself if you don't believe me.

If you're a label reader you'll know that there isn't much difference between the content of the designer mascaras and the drugstore brands. Either way you can choose among colors or select waterproof instead of washable. But when selecting between the high end to the discounted you're better off buying the drugstore mascara in mass. Newness, as it turns out, is what keeps your mascara fresh and your brush clump free, thus having more unopened tubes proves far more effective than spending all that cash on luxury priced mascaras because the quality disparity of the actual mascara (its popularity, btw, evolved in the early 20th century when women began tinting Vaseline with coal dust and using it to coat their lashes) isn't really distinguishable.

As a point of fact I haven't seen too many ads expressing new formulas for mascara, rather their revolution is in brush types. What's amusing about this is how vendors describe brushes in order to encourage us to select the "colossal brush" with "9x the volume in one coat," that promises "no clumps." Where's the data on this? Prove to me that one coat of "the COLOSSAL" provides 9x more "volume" than another mascara.

Shoplifting Moms Use Kids in Burglary Attempt

Talk about despicable. Two women were arrested Monday night for, allegedly, using their children to steal merchandise from the local Wal-Mart.

According to a San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department official, the women, Anguiano-Degonza, 26, and Juana Marin, 22, changed barcodes of several items as they attempted to steal more than a dozen others.

Store employees noticed the woman acting suspiciously as one of the women dressed her toddler in an un-purchased jacket and attempted to leave the store. According a spokesperson for the Victorville Sheriff's Department, Karen Hunt, the other woman was seen sticking a sweater into her child's car seat, beneath the baby.

Previously the women were seen attempting to check out of the same Victorville Wall-Mart with items tagged with the incorrect barcodes. At that time store loss-prevention officers had no proof that the women had actually switched the barcodes.

Along with their arrest for commercial burglary, the women were also charged with child endangerment. Both women were booked into Victor Valley Jail, while their children were released into the custody of their fathers.

Sarah Palin: A Woman of Her Kind

On Dating Stephen Elliot by Katie Crouch

Georgia: the Protectionist State

Sexual assault in Georgia isn't quite what it is in the rest of the country.

The definition of sexual assault varies by state and most prohibit subjecting another to unwanted or offensive sexual touching. In Georgia, however, the definition of sexual assault is less specific.

Georgia does not specify whether the touching must be unwanted in order to be criminal; that is, it need not be if the person committing the sexual assault: "has supervisory or disciplinary authority over another person."

Ostensibly this makes some sense: the law protects subordinates from sexual assault by supervisors. But, it also diminishes the ideal of consenting adults. To say because a person " supervisory or disciplinary power over another," that any sexual contact between them is criminal seems to violate the notion of privacy promised by the Constitution.

We have laws on the books that protect children from adults and laws that protect adults from one another. However, it isn't the role of the government to selectively protect people from participating in legal activities with whomever. Should such activities become unwanted or offensive, then perhaps there should be grounds for charges of illegality.

Until then, not so much.

Ethics live in the details

Weighty words and hollow verbiage too often bear the title of a Code of Ethics and such codes remain under the radar at many organizations. Ethics codes speak of principle not practice. Only companies that make ethics a priority at all levels of the organization, especially at the executive level can reasonably claim allegiance to a Code of Ethics.

As a writer of online training courses in ethics and compliance I’ve seen the differences. Many companies train employees as a preemptive legal strategy: employees spend 60 minutes clicking answers and reading text about the organization’s policies and expectations. Doing this makes wrong doing or "ethics violations" the responsibility of the individual actor not, the company argues, the organization at large. Yet, once finished, most employees return to their tasks and tuck what information they retained somewhere out of consciousness, continuing on as if the training hardly happened.

Not much changes after the training. When an ethical violation arises — a coworker asks you to clock out for her so she can stop by the store before she picks up her kid from daycare — few employees have courage enough to draw attention to the situation. While some may refuse her request, saying: “I’m not comfortable with that” or something of the like, few consider such an incidental request an ethical violation. Would you?

Ethics live in the small things, in the details. Yet it is precisely here where the graying of ethics begins. Individuals must not only hold themselves accountable, but we must each remain accountable to our fellow colleagues, clients, consumers and citizens. Denying accountability in the simple, small matters frays the ethical fabric of upon which we base a code of ethics and hastens the unraveling and our collective ability to deny our own responsibility.

Football Profits: Ill Gotten Gain

Wow! Talk about a blatant, ill-conceived abuse of his position. John Widowfield, then an Ohio State Representative, used campaign funds to buy Ohio State football tickets and then re-sold the tickets for profit. While buying OSU football tickets with campaign funds is apparently common and legal, Widowfield violated state ethics laws and misused his position as a lawmaker when he resold the tickets at a profit.

His shady dealings netted him $13,676 — an amount that Widowfield claims he repaid his campaign — and a misdemeanor charge for filing a false financial disclosure statement.

Shortly after an investigation by the Joint Legislative Ethics Committee, Widowfield resigned his seat in the Ohio House of Representatives. But it wasn’t until four months later that the Republican from Cuyahoga Falls admitted wrongdoing. Faced with a misdemeanor ethics violation, a charge allows for jail time, Widowfield will likely only pay a fine.

In his Elections Commission filing Widowfield wrote: "My misconduct has, quite properly, resulted in my resignation from the General Assembly. I have written a personal check to my campaign committee in the amount of the proceeds at issue but that does not excuse or change the fact that I violated" state law. Widowfield’s public apology continued, by saying, "I do not wish to excuse my conduct, but atone for it."

Widowfield’s actions not only demonstrate his severe lack of judgment and disregard for the regulations of good governance, they also mock the very people who contributed to his campaign.

Felony claim leads to defamation lawsuit

When former Nevada State Sen. Sandra Tiffany found herself on the losing end of an election she decided to sue. And rightly so, she experienced libel that exposed her to ridicule and contempt, not to mention a resounding defeat, ending her career as a state lawmaker.

Tiffany claimed defaming mailers, sent by the Nevada State Education Association, contributed, unfairly, to her failed reelection bid in 2006. The claimed defamation touted in the mailers: Henderson could go to prison for unlawfully using her elected position for personal gain.

It’s true that before the election Tiffany was under investigation by the state Ethics Commission. Investigators found evidence that Tiffany used her position to obtain information about other states’ online government auctions. Information she later admitted to using in order to increase the prosperity of her private business. So the charge that Tiffany unlawfully used her position and violated the states ethics laws is accurate. But were such violations felony offenses as the mailer charged? No.

Tiffany admitted to two willful ethics violations before the election and subsequently paid her $10,000 fine, she was not cited with and criminal violation. Thus, the charge of Tiffany’s impending imprisonment in the Education Association’s mailer may be libelous, since the mailer wasn’t spot on. As a point of fact, that the teacher’s union should have reasonably known, the ethics violations charged to Tiffany were far from felonies: ethics violations in Nevada result only in fines.

Of her desire for $10,000 compensation Tiffany said: "This is defamation. We're not kidding around here. Yes we want compensation and we want the teachers union to know they can't do that to people. They can't go that far over the line."

While the teacher’s union has yet to comment on the lawsuit it should be prepared for a Tiffany to put forth a serious case for defamation of character. Such a case requires Tiffany to show a) a false statement of fact was made: that she could be jailed for her ethics violations; and, b) this statement was conveyed to a third party and intends to harm Tiffany’s reputation: the teachers union printed the claim on mailers and dispensed them throughout Nevada’s 5th District.

In the case of a public figure, such as a senator running for reelection, the plaintiff must prove malice spurred the defaming statement. In the political arena, as in the private sector, malice isn’t easily proved. The teacher’s union may be able to fight Tiffany’s claim, but it should also remember that ethical due diligence (i.e. fact checking) keeps lawsuits like these from ever arising.

Tell my dad on you, Devil!

Dow Jones & the Birds of War

The Birds of War are buzzing my house again today. Blue and yellow their steel wings glisten and glint the bay waters below. Smoke lingers in their wake, marking a trail of their rise and fall and plateau. Then up again they'll rise, seemingly from nowhere, from some unseeable moment on the horizon.
Perhaps these Birds of War prophecy our country's economic future, and at some distant moment, unseeable to the naked eye, the Dow Jones will rise up from what seems like nowhere. For now, it's all a matter of keeping an eye on their trails of smoke and our lungs full with air to be expelled at the last possible moment. Relief, it's all okay. The election is over and cycle begins again as the left moves closer to the right as children wail and old people die in the streets.

Blue Angles and more

The Blue Angles swooping by disturb my writing and I am upset. Yet when I think a second more I realize my life, even jobless, is easy. My city isn't plagued by violence, at least not of the sort with IEDs or shoulder fired missiles.

Leaving the Mission last night after the Progressive Reading Series I walked to 24th and Valencia. I'll admit I was uncomfortable, not scared but awkward and displaced. I felt like I'd invaded a neighborhood without winning hearts and minds. If only it were so small an invasion. I found my way out without trouble. In fact, several folks were quite helpful. People, as individuals, are much more amiable then generalized mobs. Just look at the debate Tuesday. The mud-slinging and direct, malicious and misleading attacks were toned down to temperate, lukewarm tolerance.

I'll avoid a diatribe on tolerance, for now.

John S Micain & the Debate

Only now do I realize why Sarah Palin noted John McCain's middle initial 'S', for Sidney, when she accepted his invitation to the Republican ticket. This act of performative speech gave her and McCain the leeway to use Barack Obama's middle name, Hussein, when referring to the Democratic nominee for president. And we thought she had no foresight.

Debate Tonight

Big Ben announces today that the sky is actually falling.

All those big names (i.e. Bush II, McCain) who thought the rest of us were being Chicken Littles in terms of the economy, were actually wrong. Some of the MSNBC commentators equate this financial disaster as an atomic bomb on the economic front.

Perhaps soon they'll start equating the current financial situation to the Holocaust and those who deny its severity the equivalent of Holocaust deniers.

***************************

Sarah's World: Blood Stain

Sarah's World: Who got your back?

Sarah's World: Veep Debate

Sarah's World

Going for Greed

Bailout Blunders #1

Where do we go from here? House Speaker Nanci Pelosi reiterated the Democrats' commitment to place the needs of Main Street before those of Wall Street . However, the problem remains that "protecting" the middle class is rarely effective when done by by those who do not feel the social and economic pressures felt by the middle or lower-middle class.

Regretting that the lending crisis is our reality says little when no member of the House, much less the Senate, face foreclosure, face living on the streets. Even if members of the House and Senate face reelection, few face any real threat of unemployment. Even if they lose a seat in Washington, most maintain law practices or posses wealthy spouses capable of sustaining a $100,000 plus income with a single-earner household.

Perhaps Republicans and Democrats need a closer look at the ills facing many of Americans. Perhaps economic leaders need to learn a tougher lesson than they'll learn from briefly losing their CEO or CFO or COO positions. Perhaps members of the 26 companies currently under Federal investigation by the FBI for their role in the sub-prime lending fiasco, should have more than their, so called, golden parachutes cut. Let's see these business and political leaders stripped of their silver spoons, blue blood, legacy birth rights and speculative wealth. Let's see these folks stripped of their designer clothes, luxury vehicles, chartered planes, overstuffed stock portfolios and company (or taxpayer funded) credit cards. From there we may see a different turn when it comes to the way they relate to "ordinary" Americans.

$700 billion dollar bailout isn't in the cards, at least not today. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi blames Republicans for not passing the bill that she said would have given more oversight to the lending market, but let's not forget that politicians were the ones responsible for ensuring that the oversight was there far before this catastrophic collapse.

Who needs a bailout?

This whole bailout fiasco is intense, especially being unemployed at the moment. The worse off the economy gets, the more my confidence fades. Watching projects get canceled as companies decide to reign in spending, my heart palpates and my hands become clammy.

How did this become someone's home? How did a doorway become the entirety of a home, not just the entrance? When did a sleeping bag become an everyday item, rather than an occasional companion in the woods?

How did she go from out of a job to out of work to out of the workforce entirely? How did she reach for a bottle or a pill instead of a friend or the phone? We believe it can't happen to us, but her story warns us of an alternate ending to the story.

When Pigs Fly at Zeitgeist

From Conduit we headed to Zeitgeist, a biker bar on the edge of the Mission. The scene began quietly. Sitting at sappy, food infused pine benches we made friends with the tourists and looked intently at the pierced and inked bikers.

We quickly learned why the pink pigs fly high at Zeitgeist -- and so does almost everyone else.

Party bowls galore. I wasn't aware that this place had such a permissive policy of getting stoned in public. Lines of coke, totally unacceptable, but weed? Party on dudes.

Not sure what the deal is with these pigs, but the picture taker took a risk. Also overheard were several bizarre conversations, including this bit:

"How could you have eleven children?" ... "Your grandfather couldn't keep it in his pants." Followed by disparaging comments about Arabs.

Dessert @ Conduit

Dessert at Conduit, a new-ish San Francisco restaurant located at 280 Valencia, brings seasonal delights to mouth-watering heights. Delish!

Not really a foodie, I found myself absolutely at a loss for words as I sampled three deserts by pastry chef Majken Klare: Cake, Crêpe and Vacherin.

Such toned down names give the false impression that simplicity has to be bland. At Conduit it is anything but.
While the restaurant specializes in contemporary American Cuisine accented with French and Italian flourishes, the dessert menu takes traditional to an ethereal level.

The Crêpe, my favorite by far, was an elegant combination of Charantais Melon (Cucumis melo ), bacon and galia. The melon, a European Cantalope, holds a sweet, clean flavor with pleasing texture. Soft colors of the green rind and the mellow oraenge fruit appeal to the eye while the aroma tempts the palet.

Justice for Poets: Rightous Kill

Did a good cop really kill those who somehow beat the system? Should we forgive him if he did? How do fourteen murders over thirty years go unnoticed? How do we manage to sustain any commitment to justice? These are some of the questions raised by Righteous Kill.

Righteous Kill, from the writer of Inside Man, is less a cop-suspense film than it is a tragic story of love and betrayal. The film is simultaneously engaging and disquieting. Headliners Robert De Niro and Al Pacino play the story’s leads: a pair of veteran NYPD cops (Turk and Rooster, respectively) on the trail of a vigilante serial killer.

We’ve seen a whole subgenre of movies that re-cast their moral compass in a manner that compels them take lives in order to protect themselves or others – Taxi Driver and more recently The One, come to mind. Almost all the comic flicks involve vigilante justice, Batman isn’t testifying in court or filling out a police report. In Righteous Kill, it seems, someone is also dissatisfied with the injustices of the justice system.

From the out set we’re lead to believe it’s an inside job. The film opens with a crackly, black and white TV displays Turk, on what looks like an interrogation video. He states calmly that he murdered 14 people during his 30 years on the NYPD.

If this is the story, than what’s the point? Nothing left to figure out. Unless it’s the righteousness of the murders, the justice he’s bringing with a tainted badge. This confession lapses back to the first vigilante act: Turk convinces his partner, Rooster, to plant a gun on a kiddy-killer, who’d been acquitted for raping and murdering his girlfriend’s 10 year-old daughter. Here, so it seems, is where justice becomes a personal matter, where the line blurs and the killing begins. Back to the confession tape Turk claims he served justice when the system couldn’t.

While this is a well done genre film, what makes it worth the fare is the brolove shared by the pair of cops whose partnership has spanned three decades. Their bond is vulnerable and touching.

TEP allows 70,000 more riders, no budget increase

A nine percent increase to the city's bus lines and rail routes will make room for 70,000 additional riders without increasing the MTA's budget. This is according to the findings of the Transit Effectiveness Project (TEP), which researched demographics and tracked rider ship to capture the most comprehensive picture of MTA's traffic in 25 years. Yet, not all San Francisco residents are pleased with the TEP's recommendations.

On Tuesday, September 16, the Municipal Transit Authority (SFMTA) Board held a special public hearing so those concerned by the changes the TEP calls for could state them on the record. Comments, however, were limited to one minute per speaker — down from the three-minute floor-time residents were expecting — due to the nearly 100 person long comment list at the start of the 3:30 hearing.

Recommended changes include: consolidating certain low-traffic routes (or route segments), increasing service on high-traffic routes, with additional increases during peak hours, while adding new routes and extending existing routes. The TEP's staff recommendations state that by shifting MTA resources to high-traffic routes it will reduce delays and increase reliability on all routes.

While objections to the TEP recommendations spanned a wide range of issues the most common among them were concern for how the changes would affect the elderly and the disabled. Cutting the 38 Ocean Beach line would force seniors traveling inbound (toward senior centers, doctor's appointments or downtown shopping) to take the 18 bus to 33rd St. and transfer to 38 Geary, arguably adding an additional 30 minutes to an already hour long commute.

"It's not broke, so don't fix it. I learned that in City Hall," said Veera Hail, referring to the route change proposed for the 38 Ocean Beach. "It's fine the way it is. Leave it alone."

The public comment required no action by the Board. Yet, TEP staff will incorporate Tuesday's community input session during their September 22 work session. The results of the work session will be presented to the SFMTA Board for approval on September 30. If approved at the SFMTA meeting, the TEP proposals will not take effect sooner then July 2009 at the earliest.

Pardon My Spanglish

Last night I attended a reading by comedian Bill Santiago at Booksmith on Haight Street. His new book Pardon My Spanglish: One Man's Guide to Speaking the Habla (softcover, $14.95), is an irreverent take on a linguistic mashup.

Santiago's book chronicles his Spanglish obsession, from Spanglish on the phone to Spanglish online, he repeats recorded conversations from a variety of sources. He uses his family throughout the book to express the attachment of Spanish speakers to their mother language and how cross-cultural existence has given birth to a hybrid bi-lingual language. The stories are hilarious, but full enjoyment requires a decent understanding of Spanish, as several members of last night's audience can attest.

Santiago's delivery is spontaneous and his stream-of-consciousness, comedic commentary accompanies his literary selections. Listening to him read, feels sort of like Being John Malcovich: traveling into Santiago's mind as he researches and writes the book. Weird but entertaining and enlightening.

Bill Santiago is a nationally known comedian who has appeared on Conan O’Brien and Comedy Central. His latest show, The Funny of (Latin) Dance, will be premiering at the Brava Theater Center in San Francisco on September 20th.

On the Waterfront

San Francisco serves as a beacon for modern day gypsies. More often on warm days these folks spill out of the shelters onto the sidewalks and public beaches. Down near Fisher Man's Wharf, today was no exception.

Usually their face or contorted figure stands out only for a minute or two. I hold their faces in my head as I thank God that I have a consistent access to indoor plumbing and a well made bed. At the moment I can't shake the impression left by of a woman sprawled in on the beach today.

Her calloused blackened feet jutted out into the fine, warm sand. Her head rested between a cement wall and the ground. Her mouth hung open, still and hard as if she were frozen, mid-chant, in a Zen like Ommm. I felt the urge to close it, like the eyelids of the newly dead.

Her sun streaked hair, grubby and stringy, looked sticky and limp against her head. Her shorts were inappropriate for her age; they exposed her still shapely, tan, bare legs. Sleep softened her features and smoothed her wrinkles, this made it hard to tell her age. She could easily have been in her sixties, though she may have been much younger. I can't imagine her life had been easy or carefree, despite its nomadic turn.

She sleeps on this San Francisco beach and appears more relaxed and vulnerable than I've been in years.

Bad on the Phone

Yesterday I participated in an interview for an online community coordinator position. The position is with a BigBox retailer looking to add some "community" to its online commerce. The interview lasted a little over half an hour and the whole thing felt like a psychic test, with my task being to read the interviewer's mind.

He asked me about a time when I faced an ethical quandary and how I handled the situation. He explained that the position required "sound judgment" when it came to editing content posted by users on the site. He meant quashing any naysayers or fun-pokers that rustled the feathers of the golden commercial goose--disrupting buying patterns or exposing shoddy service or lead painted tot-toys.

Sure he didn't want my thoughts on freedom of expression and transparency, I gave him a story about plagiarism and my desire to use the incident as a teachable moment and create a "win-win" situation for a floundering student. His response was so disinterested I wanted to end the conversation immediately or blurt out "what the hell buddy? Knock off the interview-speak and say what you mean." Why make the question so supercilious?

If he would've asked me straight out whether I would censor material deemed too negative/obscene/antagonistic by the BigBox boys, I would have said yes. Not that I think it's the best way to build a community or that "sound judgment" means silencing dissenting or questioning voices. I prefer a more Millian approach: draw out dissenters, engage them in dialog and force them to substantiate their position, then work on establishing steps to resolve their issues. Such participatory patterns create community, whether online or off.

Maybe my interview didn't go so well. But, since mind-reader appears nowhere on my resume, I'm not taking the floundering exchange as a blight on my core competencies.

Obama Christ Superstar: Trials & Tribulations

Obama Christ Superstar

Scam Alert: The Latitude Group

The Latitude Group claims it represents array of big name clients, such as the Oakland As, Disney World and IMAX. If reselling bundled tickets counts as marketing representation, then I guess they do. But from my recent experience, I doubt their supposed clients would see it that way.

Casting itself as a partner with any powerhouse company appears incongruous. The Latitude Group resides in a dank, five-story 1980s office building plopped between the exhaust from the 580 Freeway and the back parking lot of a Kinkos/FedEx in Emeryville. The paper label taped on the building's directory announcing the firm's 500 Suite residence further points to the unlikelihood of many, if any, high profile clients. As does the elevator that doesn't reach the firm's 5th floor office, reception area overrun with awkwardly-overdressed, young professionals, the cheap wide screen tv playing I Am Legend and the unkempt and seemingly clueless secretarial pool chatting among themselves. Talk about false marketing.

The ploy is twofold: 1. that The Latitude Group is a marketing firm and 2. that the "management training program" actually involves a paid position. The only marketing going on here is in the company's self-billing where it proclaims its status as a reputable firm in ads that saturate bay area job boards. While the positions may not involve cold-calling per-se, they require endless cold-knocking. The "marketing" requires wearing professional attire to knock on doors -- the business-y disguise increases account executives' ability to wiggle into local businesses unobstructed -- and hawk a variety of "entertainment packages," unsolicited.

The marketing involved goes no further than devising the post-wiggle pitch. There's no direction or interaction with big league clients or media conglomerates, no campaigns developed on the client's behalf, no storyboards or PowerPoint presentations. The "training" program is commission based and you're not being paid for your time unless you're selling.

Let the job candidate beware!

Assignment #1a: Not so much

I canceled on Mark. He brought up nudity and I'm not desperate enough for that. Plus he was vehemently against me brining a friend to ensure things didn't get sketchy. Total red flag, right? He said it was because he "has too much to lose" because he's rich and married and has kids. That may be true, but if it's nothing more than drawings, how is it a blackmail concern? I wish I could block his number. He texted several times since I said no, emailed and called. Gross. No thanks. I'll continue to apply for jobs that involve less exposure.

Assignment #1: A day on the Lake

I may have made a mistake today. I agreed to meet Mark Weeks (who knows if that's his real name) in Livermore at the BART station. He says he'll pick me up there and we can go to his boat where he'll draw my picture and pay me $120 for my time. I'm not sure how he found me. I can't remember applying for any modeling jobs specifically, but I did sign up with Talent6 as a vain attempt to profit from my appearance (which isn't really an act of vanity, as much as it is an act of desperation).

I'm pretty sure I'll go and see what happens. He says I'll be home by four, but all I can think about is Law & Order episodes where women get murdered by creepy dudes posing as artists or rich and tossed into the East River. For me it's the Russian River, but that's bad enough. Why would anyone want to pay me to draw my picture. Oh well, against my better judgment I'm heading to Livermore tomorrow morning. If I die (e.g. never post again), please trace this number 925-200-3858. He claims to be one of the guys in this picture, but I have no conformation of this.