By Sylvia Gurinsky
Unless you're a National League fan, last night was a pretty good one for baseball.
Busch Stadium hosted a terrific, celebratory All Star Game in St. Louis, probably the best baseball city in the United States. Tribute was paid to St. Louis Cardinal great Stan Musial. President Barack Obama threw out the first pitch. The game highlighted a new generation of stars, was competitive and relatively quick.
It was a balm for fans exhausted by Major League Baseball's continuing problems with players who take performance-enhancing drugs, teams whose owners don't seem to care about making them competitive and outrageous ticket prices in a bad economy.
The game's administration and leadership need fixing. One-half of the two toxic forces who did the most to contribute to the steroid crisis - Major League Baseball Players Association Director Donald Fehr - is, at long last, retring. The other half, Commissioner Bud Selig, is hanging on for the time being.
When he does retire, here are some proposals for what baseball should do:
1. Change the way in which the baseball commissioner is selected. Let both players and owners pick their leader. Come to think of it, create an advisory committee also made up of baseball fans, and let them have a say in the process. One more thing: No more baseball owners as commissioners.
2. Any new commissioner should immediately announce a full and uncompromising review of the performance-enhancing drug issue from the mid-1980s to the current time. Such a review must go way beyond the 2007 Mitchell Report and include worldwide pipelines. It must also include all records set in that time. Players found to have used performance-enhancing drugs should instantly be stripped of any records. Teams with a majority of juiced-up players should forfeit championships.
3. A new commissioner also needs to review franchises, such as Pittsburgh and Baltimore, in which the ownership has been unwilling to invest to improve the team and order the owners to sell the clubs if the situation has been ongoing for more than a decade. There is no excuse for once-proud franchises to become anyone's doormat.
4. A commissioner should work with clubs to ensure that fans can continue to be able to afford a day or night at the ballpark for their families. Encourage teams to provide ticket discounts for senior citizens and large families.
Last night was a bright one for baseball. After the dark days of recent years, fans deserve many more of them.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
July 14: Compromise On Rickenbacker Causeway
By Sylvia Gurinsky
The Rickenbacker Causeway should not go all-electronic toll because:
1. Key Biscayne gets a lot of tourists and sometime visitors who do not have electric toll transponders/cards.
2. Motorists aren't alone on the road, as an article in today's Miami Herald shows.
Miami-Dade's Public Works Department has the best proposal, with the combination of electronic passes and one cash lane. That's better than the proposal of County Commissioner Carlos Gimenez, usually one of the best on the dais but in a policy slump recently, with his support of all-electronic tolls on the Rickenbacker (not to mention studying the idea of slot machines at Miami International Airport).
Elected and transportation officials will never be able to force sometime drivers or people who can't afford the monthly fees for electronic devices to get them. Coin lanes need to be an option for the only way into Key Biscayne by car.
As for bicyclists, the county professes to be interested in improving conditions for them. Putting them in a race with motorists zipping through electronic toll lanes won't do that.
The Miami-Dade Commission should adopt the Public Works proposal. Compromise is needed on the Rickenbacker Causeway - among the people who drive it and the people who oversee it.
The Rickenbacker Causeway should not go all-electronic toll because:
1. Key Biscayne gets a lot of tourists and sometime visitors who do not have electric toll transponders/cards.
2. Motorists aren't alone on the road, as an article in today's Miami Herald shows.
Miami-Dade's Public Works Department has the best proposal, with the combination of electronic passes and one cash lane. That's better than the proposal of County Commissioner Carlos Gimenez, usually one of the best on the dais but in a policy slump recently, with his support of all-electronic tolls on the Rickenbacker (not to mention studying the idea of slot machines at Miami International Airport).
Elected and transportation officials will never be able to force sometime drivers or people who can't afford the monthly fees for electronic devices to get them. Coin lanes need to be an option for the only way into Key Biscayne by car.
As for bicyclists, the county professes to be interested in improving conditions for them. Putting them in a race with motorists zipping through electronic toll lanes won't do that.
The Miami-Dade Commission should adopt the Public Works proposal. Compromise is needed on the Rickenbacker Causeway - among the people who drive it and the people who oversee it.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
UPDATED: July 9: Florida Needs To Address Issue of Sex Offenders' Residency
By Sylvia Gurinsky
What happens once sex offenders have served their prison sentences?
In Miami-Dade County, many of them have settled under the Julia Tuttle Causeway because Dade law states they can live no closer than 2,500 feet to schools, parks or other areas in which children gather.
The county is removing them from under the causeway because of its proximity to a location called Picnic Island #4. Now, the American Civil Liberties Union is suing the county, saying its law overshoots state law, which puts the mark at 1,000 feet.
Meanwhile, almost no politician at a local or state level has addressed the issue of what happens after these people are released from jail. Can they be rehabilitated and reintroduced into society? If not, what happens then? Certainly, chucking them under a bridge is no solution.
When Gov. Charlie Crist was in the Florida Senate, he was known as "Chain Gang Charlie" for a proposal to have prisoners in chains by the side of the road as they did their work. The nickname and proposal earned both scorns and superlatives, but at least he showed some imagination.
Now, Crist needs to show similar creativity - and work with the Florida Legislature and local governments to decide how to make offenders who have served their sentences productive members of society. Putting them to substantive work - and not in substandard living conditions - would be a start. Perhaps creating special work camps for them would be a solution.
What happens once sex offenders have served their prison sentences?
In Miami-Dade County, many of them have settled under the Julia Tuttle Causeway because Dade law states they can live no closer than 2,500 feet to schools, parks or other areas in which children gather.
The county is removing them from under the causeway because of its proximity to a location called Picnic Island #4. Now, the American Civil Liberties Union is suing the county, saying its law overshoots state law, which puts the mark at 1,000 feet.
Meanwhile, almost no politician at a local or state level has addressed the issue of what happens after these people are released from jail. Can they be rehabilitated and reintroduced into society? If not, what happens then? Certainly, chucking them under a bridge is no solution.
When Gov. Charlie Crist was in the Florida Senate, he was known as "Chain Gang Charlie" for a proposal to have prisoners in chains by the side of the road as they did their work. The nickname and proposal earned both scorns and superlatives, but at least he showed some imagination.
Now, Crist needs to show similar creativity - and work with the Florida Legislature and local governments to decide how to make offenders who have served their sentences productive members of society. Putting them to substantive work - and not in substandard living conditions - would be a start. Perhaps creating special work camps for them would be a solution.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
July 8: Palin Is Qualified For Drama Queen
By Sylvia Gurinsky
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin truly missed her calling. After her beauty pageants, she should have headed for Hollywood.
Instead, she's in politics. After a year-and-a-half of apparently solid governing of Alaska by her, Sen. John McCain made the mistake of picking Palin as his running mate. She was not - is still not - ready to be either vice president or president of the United States. In terms of policy, her knowledge is nowhere near the level of a respected world leader. Worse, she has seemed unwilling to learn, so far.
What she is perfectly willing to do is act like a reality-show contestant in front of the whole country. Whenever there's a personal crisis - generally self-inflicted - or a reporter, blogger or comedian exercises their First Amendment rights to comment on her, she whines, she threatens, she blames everyone else - and generally refuses to take responsibility for anything. That's not the way a stateswoman acts.
Her decision to resign from office and the press conference were just more of the same. It is interesting to note that everyone seems to have the same reaction to her decision that they had to her presence on the Republican ticket last fall - Democrats, Independents and many Republicans in a decision-making position don't like her.
In the case of the Republicans, they're going to ride the horse, though, probably to the 2012 presidential nomination, unless something else unforseen happens, because she seems to have support among the party's rank and file. Sympathies to Republicans who want a more sober - and prepared - nominee who knows how to deal with the responsibilities that come with being a resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
There are Republican women who fit that profile - Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas comes to mind - but at the moment, at least, Sarah Palin isn't one of them. She's qualified for drama queen, not president.
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin truly missed her calling. After her beauty pageants, she should have headed for Hollywood.
Instead, she's in politics. After a year-and-a-half of apparently solid governing of Alaska by her, Sen. John McCain made the mistake of picking Palin as his running mate. She was not - is still not - ready to be either vice president or president of the United States. In terms of policy, her knowledge is nowhere near the level of a respected world leader. Worse, she has seemed unwilling to learn, so far.
What she is perfectly willing to do is act like a reality-show contestant in front of the whole country. Whenever there's a personal crisis - generally self-inflicted - or a reporter, blogger or comedian exercises their First Amendment rights to comment on her, she whines, she threatens, she blames everyone else - and generally refuses to take responsibility for anything. That's not the way a stateswoman acts.
Her decision to resign from office and the press conference were just more of the same. It is interesting to note that everyone seems to have the same reaction to her decision that they had to her presence on the Republican ticket last fall - Democrats, Independents and many Republicans in a decision-making position don't like her.
In the case of the Republicans, they're going to ride the horse, though, probably to the 2012 presidential nomination, unless something else unforseen happens, because she seems to have support among the party's rank and file. Sympathies to Republicans who want a more sober - and prepared - nominee who knows how to deal with the responsibilities that come with being a resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
There are Republican women who fit that profile - Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas comes to mind - but at the moment, at least, Sarah Palin isn't one of them. She's qualified for drama queen, not president.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
July 7: McNamara's Piece
By Sylvia Gurinsky
In retrospect, which was the title of Robert McNamara's autobiography, President John F. Kennedy's decision to appoint McNamara as secretary of defense may be one of the most absurd Cabinet choices of the 20th century.
McNamara, the president of Ford Motor Company at the time, was probably more suited to the job President Lyndon Johnson would give him eight years later - president of the World Bank. But Kennedy was floored by McNamara's intelligence and figured he would be successful in changing military tactics.
It sometimes worked - most successfully during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when McNamara's suggestion of a blockade was accepted and executed. But others in the Kennedy Administration, including Secretary of State Dean Rusk, United Nations Ambassador Adlai Stevenson and Attorney General Robert Kennedy, eventually won the day with their diplomacy. (An interesting footnote: A documentary on the DVD of the film "Thirteen Days," which is about the crisis, indicates that during the second week, McNamara, short on sleep and proper nutrition, was becoming unglued.)
But McNamara's military tactics failed big during the Cuban Missile Crisis and especially the Vietnam War, which came to be known, derisively, as "McNamara's War." Despite his autobiography, in which he acknowledged mistakes in Vietnam, and his comments in interviews and the documentary "The Fog of War," he will always be a figure of hatred to many who lived during the Vietnam era.
As time, emotions and the Vietnam generation pass, however, historians, scholars and future political and military leaders will be able to study McNamara's words about the failure in Vietnam and learn lessons from them. Also, future generations will also be able to learn from his World Bank tenure, in which he reached out to developing nations.
Robert McNamara proved the best and the brightest, as many in the Kennedy Administration were known, could blunder. But his actions and words in later life will serve as lessons to those whose job it is to keep the peace.
In retrospect, which was the title of Robert McNamara's autobiography, President John F. Kennedy's decision to appoint McNamara as secretary of defense may be one of the most absurd Cabinet choices of the 20th century.
McNamara, the president of Ford Motor Company at the time, was probably more suited to the job President Lyndon Johnson would give him eight years later - president of the World Bank. But Kennedy was floored by McNamara's intelligence and figured he would be successful in changing military tactics.
It sometimes worked - most successfully during the Cuban Missile Crisis, when McNamara's suggestion of a blockade was accepted and executed. But others in the Kennedy Administration, including Secretary of State Dean Rusk, United Nations Ambassador Adlai Stevenson and Attorney General Robert Kennedy, eventually won the day with their diplomacy. (An interesting footnote: A documentary on the DVD of the film "Thirteen Days," which is about the crisis, indicates that during the second week, McNamara, short on sleep and proper nutrition, was becoming unglued.)
But McNamara's military tactics failed big during the Cuban Missile Crisis and especially the Vietnam War, which came to be known, derisively, as "McNamara's War." Despite his autobiography, in which he acknowledged mistakes in Vietnam, and his comments in interviews and the documentary "The Fog of War," he will always be a figure of hatred to many who lived during the Vietnam era.
As time, emotions and the Vietnam generation pass, however, historians, scholars and future political and military leaders will be able to study McNamara's words about the failure in Vietnam and learn lessons from them. Also, future generations will also be able to learn from his World Bank tenure, in which he reached out to developing nations.
Robert McNamara proved the best and the brightest, as many in the Kennedy Administration were known, could blunder. But his actions and words in later life will serve as lessons to those whose job it is to keep the peace.
Monday, July 6, 2009
July 6: Katharine's World
By Sylvia Gurinsky
(Full disclosure: I am a former employee of WPLG-Channel 10, which is owned by the Washington Post Company.)
One of the worst moments of the tenure of Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham came in 1981, in the fallout over an article called "Jimmy's World," about a little boy who was a drug addict. The article, written by a young reporter named Janet Cooke, impressed plenty of people, enough to win a Pulitzer Prize. A day later, Cooke and The Post returned the award when it was revealed that "Jimmy" did not exist. The following week, the paper published an extensive - and honest - study of how Cooke's piece got past the safeguards the paper had established for accuracy and ethics. Executive Editor Benjamin Bradlee, who had led the paper since before its Watergate reporting glories, took the heat.
So did Graham. It was characteristic of both.
This week, Graham's granddaughter, Post publisher Katharine Weymouth, had her own "Jimmy's World" moment with the revelation - in Politico, an online competitor of The Post - that Weymouth had planned various "salons" with Post journalists and Washington bigwigs for sponsors who would pay for the privilege.
That was the problem. Post reporters and editors feared, rightly, that it would compromise their ability to do their work.
The plans have been cancelled. In yesterday's paper, Weymouth published an apology:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/04/AR2009070402253.html
It's true her grandmother would frequently dine with political, business and civic leaders, but it was always on Graham's dime. Graham, who had worked for The Post as a labor reporter when her father, Eugene Meyer, ran the paper, did not interfere with Bradlee's running of the newsroom. But as she proved repeatedly during the Watergate era and beyond, she was willing to take the heat when things went wrong.
Weymouth's mother, Elizabeth or Lally, as she's known, is also a reporter, having done numerous interviews of world leaders for Newsweek in recent years. Despite the family history, Katharine Weymouth apparently did not gain any newsroom experience to go with her business experience - a problem common among many of today's newspaper executives. The lack of journalism experience shows.
Weymouth has taken responsibility. For her grandmother, that would have been the final step. For Weymouth, it has to be the first step. She has yet to learn the lessons her grandmother, a widow with little business experience when she took over The Post in 1963, had already learned.
Chief among them: Without integrity, any media outlet has nothing.
(Full disclosure: I am a former employee of WPLG-Channel 10, which is owned by the Washington Post Company.)
One of the worst moments of the tenure of Washington Post publisher Katharine Graham came in 1981, in the fallout over an article called "Jimmy's World," about a little boy who was a drug addict. The article, written by a young reporter named Janet Cooke, impressed plenty of people, enough to win a Pulitzer Prize. A day later, Cooke and The Post returned the award when it was revealed that "Jimmy" did not exist. The following week, the paper published an extensive - and honest - study of how Cooke's piece got past the safeguards the paper had established for accuracy and ethics. Executive Editor Benjamin Bradlee, who had led the paper since before its Watergate reporting glories, took the heat.
So did Graham. It was characteristic of both.
This week, Graham's granddaughter, Post publisher Katharine Weymouth, had her own "Jimmy's World" moment with the revelation - in Politico, an online competitor of The Post - that Weymouth had planned various "salons" with Post journalists and Washington bigwigs for sponsors who would pay for the privilege.
That was the problem. Post reporters and editors feared, rightly, that it would compromise their ability to do their work.
The plans have been cancelled. In yesterday's paper, Weymouth published an apology:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/04/AR2009070402253.html
It's true her grandmother would frequently dine with political, business and civic leaders, but it was always on Graham's dime. Graham, who had worked for The Post as a labor reporter when her father, Eugene Meyer, ran the paper, did not interfere with Bradlee's running of the newsroom. But as she proved repeatedly during the Watergate era and beyond, she was willing to take the heat when things went wrong.
Weymouth's mother, Elizabeth or Lally, as she's known, is also a reporter, having done numerous interviews of world leaders for Newsweek in recent years. Despite the family history, Katharine Weymouth apparently did not gain any newsroom experience to go with her business experience - a problem common among many of today's newspaper executives. The lack of journalism experience shows.
Weymouth has taken responsibility. For her grandmother, that would have been the final step. For Weymouth, it has to be the first step. She has yet to learn the lessons her grandmother, a widow with little business experience when she took over The Post in 1963, had already learned.
Chief among them: Without integrity, any media outlet has nothing.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
July 1: Bad Gamble For Dade With MIA Slots
By Sylvia Gurinsky
Obviously, eight members of the Miami-Dade County Commission didn't read that Miami Herald article on Sunday about the increase of gambling addicts in the state of Florida.
How else to explain their absolutely birdbrained support of putting slot machines in Miami International Airport?
The reason: Debts from airport expansion, thanks to years of cost overruns and general incompetence. And some county leaders have the chutzpah to criticize the Florida Marlins for their administration? Hey, at least the Marlins keep costs down.
(Speaking of which, shame on Commissioner Carlos Gimenez, long a critic of the Marlins' ballpark deal (which has been supported in this blog) and generally a common-sense vote on financial issues, for supporting this proposal for MIA.)
The full cost - in public safety and social services - of Florida's increasing obsession with gambling has yet to be tallied, but as gambling opportunities go up, that cost skyrockets as well.
The Miami-Dade Commission should not add to that cost by approving a losing plan on slot machines for MIA.
Obviously, eight members of the Miami-Dade County Commission didn't read that Miami Herald article on Sunday about the increase of gambling addicts in the state of Florida.
How else to explain their absolutely birdbrained support of putting slot machines in Miami International Airport?
The reason: Debts from airport expansion, thanks to years of cost overruns and general incompetence. And some county leaders have the chutzpah to criticize the Florida Marlins for their administration? Hey, at least the Marlins keep costs down.
(Speaking of which, shame on Commissioner Carlos Gimenez, long a critic of the Marlins' ballpark deal (which has been supported in this blog) and generally a common-sense vote on financial issues, for supporting this proposal for MIA.)
The full cost - in public safety and social services - of Florida's increasing obsession with gambling has yet to be tallied, but as gambling opportunities go up, that cost skyrockets as well.
The Miami-Dade Commission should not add to that cost by approving a losing plan on slot machines for MIA.
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