About as "No Spin" as Fox News

For those of you who have followed the case of Terri Schiavo, the Florida woman whose husband and parents have fought a prolonged legal battle over removing Terri's feeding tube, the Judge in the case ordered that her feeding tube be removed in three weeks. While this has been a horrible, tragic story, some people seem to have lost track over the idea that it is a legal battle, not a referendum on euthanasia or a battle of morals. It is a legal battle with a legal question. The L.A. Times reported that Cardinal Renato Martino, the head of the Pontifical Council on Justice and Peace said that bringing about Schiavo's death would be a "grave step" toward legalizing euthanasia in the United States. This case is about who has final say over an incapacitated woman, or possibly who is representing her wishes correctly since she did not have a living will. This case has nothing to do with euthanasia. The Vatican is either trying to spin this into a moral issue rather than a legal issue or needs to re-examine how the approach controversies such as this.

Bleeding Kansas

I started reading Paul Krugman as a junior in college in an international political economy class where we were assigned to read a book edited by Krugman. I later found that he writes a regular column in the New York Times and have read it ever since. The guy is a Princeton economics professor and an excellent writer... absolutely brilliant. He has also assailed President Bush and his allies on a number of policies. He attacks the President's policies logically and very thoroughly.

When I saw the headline for today's column was "Kansas On My Mind," I assumed it was about Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline demanding the complete medical records of women who have had late-term abortions. He says he needs the records for criminal prosecutions. Right. This is the same Attorney General who tried to require state employees to report sexual activity by minors under the age of 16. Alas, I was wrong about the subject of the column

Instead, it was about USA Next's efforts to sabatoge and destroy the AARP, a la the Swift Boat ads of this summer, because the AARP doesn't support privatizing Medicare. Krugman has written several columns about the Medicare issue directly, ranging from how the numbers don't add up in the plan to how Bush's tactics in this battle are eerily similar to how he sold invading Iraq to the American people (through a lot of deception and lies, is basically Krugman's argument).

Silly me for guessing the wrong Republican agenda item.

Bitch Set Me Up!

In honor of Black History Month, they've been playing small commercials with prominent African-Americans. They show pictures and talk about the person's accomplishments set to Nat King Cole's "Unforgettable," which doesn't seem like a very appropriate song for some of the people that they feature, but Cole himself is a famous African-American and the people are unforgettable indeed.

Anyway, I've seen two of them so far. The first was this afternoon: Thurgood Marshall, absolutely one of the most influential people, let alone African-Americans, of the second half of the 20th century. He was the lead attorney in Brown v. Board of Education, was the visionary behind the legal movement to desegregate the south as an attorney for the NAACP, and became the first African-American Supreme Court Justice. Without a doubt, an icon and a role model for anyone.

The second one I saw, however, was not so much of a role model: Marion Barry, former Mayor of Washington, DC, and current city councilman. If you recall, Barry was arrested and forced out of office after getting caught on video smoking crack in a hotel room. He served a sentence in federal prison before getting re-elected as DC's Mayor in 1994 and returned to District politics as a city councilman this past year (he received 96% of the vote). The commercial talked about how he has had "recent struggles" but has "overcome the obstacles in his life." Yeah, I'd say someone videotaping you smoking crack is a bit of an obstacle, albeit a self-imposed one. It seems like the group that made these commercials could have picked a more appropriate person to profile.

UPDATE: I saw one more commercial from this series, one featuring Marvin Gaye: a very talented R&B and soul musician of the 1960s and 70s, who was shot and killed by his father after Marvin attacked him while strung out on coke and meth. Another slight character flaw?

Pizzeria Bianco: The Anti-Chain

After ripping on Phoenix's restaurant scene, I must comment on a place that vindicates the city's reputation: Pizzeria Bianco. Recently, a New York Times food critic called Pizzeria Bianco the best pizza in the country. Yes, that's right. A pizza place in Phoenix. Best in the United States. By the New York Times. Chris Bianco, the owner of the pizzeria, is a control freak who will not let anything come out of his kitchen that he doesn't personally cook. As a result, he will not expand beyond the one location that has no more than about 40 seats. Given its growing reputation and the size of the place, you can imagine the lines. You can't get in without waiting less than 45 minutes, if you're lucky. I hate waiting for food more than most people, but even I think it's worth the wait. The crust is wood-fired and has an unbelievable taste and perfect texture. He uses only fresh, local ingredients that are surprisingly flavorful. Then he combines unique toppings to make his fabulous pizzas. If anyone's in the Phoenix area, put eating at Pizzeria Bianco near the top of your to do list.

mmmmm, Asian-type food.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am very anti-chain restaurant. If I have my choice between going to Chili's or a local hole-in-the-wall joint, Chili's will not be the restaurant to receive my patronage. I truly think Phoenix's metro area, a large, modern city that has expansive sprawl and has yet to find its cultural roots, might be the chain restaurant capital of the world. Within a five mile radius of my parents' house, I can count two Chili's, two Applebee's, a Friday's, Pei Wei, Ruby Tuesday, Sweet Tomatoes, Bahama Breeze, Red Lobster... well, you get the idea. Anyway, I was disappointed but not surprised to see that P.F. Chang's wants to open a new restaurant. Laura Cherry, company spokeswoman, said "Atmosphere and type of service will play a very important role" in this new upcoming restaurant. "We know it will be Asian in nature with a price point slightly higher than the Bistro."

When I hear about a new restaurant, I like to hear about a renowned chef or the dishes they plan to serve. "Asian in nature" does not do much to describe the latest restaurant.

What bothers me most about chain restaurants is the business-like nature of them. If P.F. Chang's could make more money selling shoes, they would drop the restaurant (excuse me, "China Bistro") business like a bad habit. Making high quality food and making people happy is not their primary goal. They are a money-making business venture first and eatery second. While atmosphere and service are nice, I'm going to a restaurant to eat. I care about the food, not the "price points."

Counting down the days

In between working on my trial court memo and finishing my group research project, I've managed to notice that pitchers and catchers report to spring training next week. At least that's what Alli and the Washington Post tell me, so I'll believe them. I am very, very excited that the Nationals will start play in RFK Stadium in April (against the Mets for the exhibition opener and the D-Backs for the regular season home opener... what could be better?). As I'm sure you could imagine, the local media is covering the team quite a bit already (although the coverage could diminish once the season starts; the Nats still don't have a TV or radio deal in place yet. Apparently they do not want to rush into things). Tony Kornheiser is ripping the team while other writers speak highly of the game and the team. Thomas Boswell wrote of the "beautiful friendship" D.C. will soon have with the team.

Baseball seems to bring out the best in writers. Even though the game seems to have more historical scars than the other major sports in the United States (the Black Sox scandal of 1919... Pete Rose... the 1994 strike... the current steroids scandal... shall I continue?), its ability to rebound is remarkable. Writers write amazing prose to describe the game.. Can 't you pucture the stereotypical article about the green grass, the smell of the glove leather, etc? I love it. I love how the game brings out such good feelings in people. I love how it brings hope. I love how in the depths of winter, a person can look to the calendar and see when spring training starts and hold out until that magical day when a person can see highlights of their team basking in the sunshine of Florida or Arizona. I love how more than any other sport, it moves with the calendar and marks the beginning of each season. I am a baseball fan and will always be a baseball fan, first and foremost.

And with that in mind, I must quote Field of Dreams:

The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.

No wonder Everyone's Addicted to Starbucks

Bill Simmons, ESPN's "Sports Guy," said this in his Super Bowl Blog about Starbucks:

"Say what you want about Starbucks, but you will not find a stronger cup of coffee on the planet. I'm convinced they put crack in it. Seriously. Eighteen months ago, I hated Starbucks and everything it represented. Now I can't drink any other coffee without getting a headache. How can you explain this? I'm convinced we're headed for one of the biggest scandals ever here. And just for the record, Peter and I stayed for an hour talking football, and he ordered TWO grande hazelnut lattes during that time. No wonder he can do 400 call-in interviews in six hours -- the man is running on pure hazelnut."

I think he's onto something here. It's just too bad that the Starbucks hater nation lost one more...

I foresee voter turnout issues there, too.

While we're all glad Iraq held their first democratic elections in about 50 years this week, one notable Iraqi did not vote: Saddam Hussein. I hope this story was just a joke. Seems like the "locked up in an undisclosed location" situation would be enough to lead someone to believe that the guy wouldn't vote if the "we overturned his dictatorship" deal wouldn't tip someone off first. The best line from the article was, "The former dictator was eligible to vote as an Iraqi citizen with no criminal record. Despite being accused of crimes against humanity and genocide, he has not been convicted."

Even so, would getting convicted in a war crimes tribunal count towards one's Iraqi criminal record? Oh well, I guess we'll never know.