We're Melting

Kevin Drum, Mother Jones: Chart of the Day - 2.14.2009

[I]n case you want to see what's really happening this winter, here's a NASA chart of global temps for January. As you can see, there are only two areas in the entire world that are colder than the 1951-1980 average: eastern Siberia and the American northeast, home to virtually the entire national press corps. So naturally cold temps are getting lots of media play. But, in fact, the rest of the world continues to be substantially warmer than in the recent past, and if you look at entire latitudes, even in this chilly month every single one is warmer than in the past. It would be nice if global warming really were taking a break, but it's not.

Jon Stewart Whacks John Sununu

NOW they're fiscally responsible, after they drove us into the ditch?

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

John Sununu

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Funny Political News
Joke of the Day

More Crouchie Dancing

A new T-Mobile ad starring Peter Crouch:

Women Excluded From Stimulus Negotiations

Incredibly, the joint House/Senate conference committee ironing out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the stimulus contains no women! You can complain about this by sending an email to Nancy Pelosi here and one to Harry Reid here. Harry Reid's contact form only takes email from Nevada residents, so say you live on S. Carson St. in Carson City, zip code 89702. He is the Senate Majority Leader, he should take emails from everyone. Spineless weenie that he is. Grrrrr.

The Moderate Voice: No Female Senators or Representatives from Congress are on Stimulus Bill Conference Committee

You have got to be kidding me:

Senate Democratic leadership has announced who will be serving on the conference committee to iron out differences in the House and Senate versions of the stimulus bill.

* Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
* Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont.
* Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii
* Finance Committee Ranking Member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa
* Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Thad Cochran, R-Miss.

Both Finance and Appropriations were heavily involved in the creation of the Senate version, with each committee holding markups on their portions.

And for the House:

* Appropriations Committee Chairman Dave Obey, D-Wis.
* Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.
* Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif.
* Appropriations Committee Ranking Member Jerry Lewis, R-Calif.
* Ways and Means Committee Ranking Member Dave Camp, R-Mich.

This is what it means to not have a critical mass, to have less than 25% of your constituency represented. Only 17% of all congressional members are female. And so, with five from the Senate (5% of the Senate) and 5 from the House (just over 1%), what chance do women get to be selected for these critical reconciliation meetings?

One Year Ago

AFP/Getty Images: US Democratic presidential hopeful Illinois Senator Barack Obama holds a baby after holding an education roundtable discussion with teachers and parents at TC Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia, on February 10, 2008.

A-Fraud A Complete Fraud

ESPN: Report: A-Rod tested positive in 2003

According to a report by Sports Illustrated, Alex Rodriguez tested positive for anabolic steroids in 2003, when he was with the Texas Rangers and won the AL home run title and MVP award.

According to the report, which was posted Saturday morning on SI.com, sources told the publication that Rodriguez was on a list of 104 players who tested positive that year, when Major League Baseball conducted tests to see if mandatory random drug testing was needed.

In 2003, there were no penalties for a positive result.

Put the tiny hypodermic next to his stats in the Baseball Encyclopedia, because he's just another Juice King. Fraud.

Happy birthday to Hank Aaron, BTW, he just turned 75 this week. Hank Aaron is the Home Run King of baseball and all these modern blow-up players are frauds. Liars, chest and thieves the lot of them.

Shepard Fairey Arrested in Boston

I have been meaning to write about the AP's bullshit claim against Shepard Fairey for using their copyrighted photo to make his Obama "hope" poster (above); then I open the newspaper today and find that Fairey was arrested last night outside the Institute for Contemporary Art. I have no idea what that's about, but I'm pretty sure the AP's case against him is bogus. Did Campbell's Soup sue Andy Warhol? (runs to google to check...yes they did! But dropped the case, whether because they liked the exposure for their brand, or because they were going to lose on the merits of whether Warhol's work infringed on their brand.)

So, is the AP claiming a copyright on Obama's face? I would think if anyone has the right to "use" the photo, it's the subject.

We all know why AP is suddenly doing this more than a year after the poster came out. Newspapers are in the toilet, cutting costs left and right including cutting AP, and they need money.

Boston.com: AP wants credit for Fairey's Obama image

Boston.com: Street artist arrested on way to event at ICA

Shepard Fairey, the controversial street artist riding a roller coaster of publicity with his red, white, and blue posters of President Obama, was arrested last night on his way to deejay an event kicking off his exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art.

Fairey, 38, who is known for his countercultural style, was arrested on two outstanding warrants and was being held, according to a police official with knowledge of the arrest who requested anonymity. Police could not describe the nature of the warrants, but said they originated in Massachusetts.

Fairey has been arrested at least 14 times, he has told the Globe.

The artist was arrested at about 9:15 p.m. as he was about to enter a sold-out dance event at the ICA on Northern Avenue, known as "Experiment Night." The event is geared toward a younger crowd, with techno-style music, and more than 750 people were waiting for Fairey, some of whom had bought tickets on Craigslist for as much as $500.

Fairey was supposed to appear as a guest disc jockey for the kickoff of his exhibit, "Supply and Demand," which will run through Aug. 16. He was scheduled to go on stage at about 10:30 p.m., and an hour later organizers told the crowd that he was arrested.

"We're very disappointed," said Paul Bessire, deputy director of the ICA.

President Obama's Weekly Web Address

Transcript:

Yesterday began with some devastating news with regard to our economic crisis. But I'm pleased to say it ended on a more positive note.

In the morning, we received yet another round of alarming employment figures – the worst in more than 30 years. Another 600,000 jobs were lost in January. We've now lost more than 3.6 million jobs since this recession began.

But by the evening, Democrats and Republicans came together in the Senate and responded appropriately to the urgency this moment demands.

In the midst of our greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, the American people were hoping that Congress would begin to confront the great challenges we face. That was, after all, what last November's election was all about.

Legislation of such magnitude deserves the scrutiny that it's received over the last month, and it will receive more in the days to come. But we can't afford to make perfect the enemy of the absolutely necessary. The scale and scope of this plan is right. And the time for action is now.

Because if we don't move swiftly to put this plan in motion, our economic crisis could become a national catastrophe. Millions of Americans will lose their jobs, their homes, and their health care. Millions more will have to put their dreams on hold.

Let's be clear: We can't expect relief from the tired old theories that, in eight short years, doubled the national debt, threw our economy into a tailspin, and led us into this mess in the first place. We can't rely on a losing formula that offers only tax cuts as the answer to all our problems while ignoring our fundamental economic challenges – the crushing cost of health care or the inadequate state of so many schools; our addiction to foreign oil or our crumbling roads, bridges, and levees.

The American people know that our challenges are great. They don't expect Democratic solutions or Republican solutions – they expect American solutions.

From the beginning, this recovery plan has had at its core a simple idea: Let's put Americans to work doing the work America needs done. It will save or create more than 3 million jobs over the next two years, all across the country – 16,000 in Maine, nearly 80,000 in Indiana – almost all of them in the private sector, and all of them jobs that help us recover today, and prosper tomorrow.

Jobs that upgrade classrooms and laboratories in 10,000 schools nationwide – at least 485 in Florida alone – and train an army of teachers in math and science.

Jobs that modernize our health care system, not only saving us billions of dollars, but countless lives.

Jobs that construct a smart electric grid, connect every corner of the country to the information superhighway, double our capacity to generate renewable energy, and grow the economy of tomorrow.

Jobs that rebuild our crumbling roads, bridges and levees and dams, so that the tragedies of New Orleans and Minneapolis never happen again.

It includes immediate tax relief for our struggling middle class in places like Ohio, where 4.5 million workers will receive a tax cut of up to $1,000. It protects health insurance and provides unemployment insurance for those who've lost their jobs. And it helps our states and communities avoid painful tax hikes or layoffs for our teachers, nurses, and first responders.

That's what is at stake with this plan: putting Americans back to work, creating transformative economic change, and making a down payment on the American Dream that serves our children and our children's children for generations to come.

Americans across this country are struggling, and they are watching to see if we're equal to the task before us. Let's show them that we are. And let's do whatever it takes to keep the promise of America alive in our time.

Thank you.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the only woman currently serving on the Supreme Court, and only the second woman ever appointed to the Supreme Court, has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

She is one of my favorite Supreme Court Justices, the only one currently serving to have had a significant impact on American jurisprudence before her appointment. She argued the first six sex discrimination cases ever heard by the all-male Court, and won five of them. She was the chief litigator for the ACLU's Women's Rights Project. It was her idea to bring sex discrimination cases where the injured party was male and cases where the discrimination hurt the family. The most famous example of this approach is the case where a widower received a smaller Social Security benefit than a widow. This the Supreme Court could see as disrimination, and a precedent was set that has benefitted all victims of sex discrimination (most of them female) ever since.

Best wishes to Justice Ginsburg in her second cancer battle. She intends to be on the bench when the Court resumes in three weeks.

NPR: Justice Ginsburg Undergoes Cancer Surgery

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the only woman currently serving on the nation's highest court, underwent surgery Thursday for removal of a cancerous tumor from her pancreas.

[]

Ginsburg's pancreatic cancer was discovered early, in the course of a routine annual screening, but medical literature says even in this circumstance, a patient's five-year survival chances range from 10 to 30 percent.

[]

The five-year survival rate is 5 percent, with most patients living less than a year. Doctors say this poor survival rate is due in significant part to the fact that cancers of the pancreas are discovered late, when the cancer is very advanced.

Because Ginsburg previously underwent radiation treatment after her colon surgery, she likely will not be able to have radiation treatment a second time. Chemotherapy has not proved to be curative for pancreatic cancer.

The Current Economic Reality

I read Atrios, so I know most of what the corporate media is shoveling at us about the bailouts is 100% pure unadulterated crap. Here's the real deal, from three of Duncan Black's posts today:

(a) For over a year the one point that I and others have been trying make is that the polite fiction that masters of the universe of Wall Street and their defenders in the media and Congress have been trying maintain, that this is liquidity crisis not an insolvency crisis, is utter horseshit. They made bad leveraged bets and lost immense amounts of money, and now they, and their buddies Geithner and Summers, want taxpayers to bail them out so they can go on living their opulent life styles while some of my neighbors wonder if their next food stamp card is going to show up.

(b) The question all along has been who is still standing when the music stops, which sucker gets stuck holding the bag.

(c) Bailing out these institutions might be necessary, but bailing out executives and shareholders is not.

Since the people running Obama's economic team are Wall Streeters, it appears that we the taxpayers will be the bagholders.

Rare Find

DailyMail: An auctioneer holds the Egyptian jar used as a garden ornament for 20 years

DailyMail (uk): Owner of garden patio ornament is told it's actually an ancient Egyptian artefact

A garden ornament that had been sitting on a patio for 20 years has turned out to be a rare, 3,000 year old ancient Egyptian jar.

The 13inch-high vessel was made during the time of the pharaohs to hold the organs of the dead ready for the afterlife.

With a distinctive top in the style of a face and easily recognisable headdress, the Canopic funerary jar had blended into its surroundings in an English garden for two decades.

[]

The terracotta jar with the top shaped with the face of the god Imseti was built to hold a human liver. The goddess Isis would have protected it.

Dating from the New Kingdom - 1550-1069 BC - the brown-coloured jar would once have been a painted receptacle fit for a pyramid.

We Love Lists

Six (Why six? Just because) favorite time-wasting websites:

1. Awful Plastic Surgery

Now you too can identify classic over-plastic-surgeried celebrity no-nos, like trout pout, face melt and Spitting Image puppet.

2. Photoshop Disasters

Amuse yourself trying to figure out where the photoshopper went wrong. Extra digits, missing limbs, and subjects who throw no shadow in bright sunlight.

3. Waiter Rant

A waiter describes life in the restaurant business in New York. He's a good writer, and published a book this fall which I gave my brother for Christmas.

4. Cake Wrecks

You'll never pass up an opportunity to check out the cakes in your grocery store bakery section after you see some of these.

5. Passive Aggressive Notes

Those notes people leave for each other when they really should just sit down and talk about it.

6. Found Magazine

Notes and drawings that people have found on the ground, in a book, etc., and sent in to the site.

Unfortunately, This is Right

In re the current debate over the stimulus plan:

Obama is, sadly, much to blame for giving the Republicans so much leverage. He defined the challenge as bipartisanship not saving the U.S. economy.

It's kind of like the war on terror. Bipartisanship is a tool, not a goal. Saving the economy is the goal. Focus, Barack, focus.

Liberal Weigh In

Reportedly Congress is getting hit with 100-1 constituent response against the stimulus bill. The rightwingers are out-organizing us, people! Call your Congresscritter and Senators and let them know in no uncertain terms that you support the stimulus bill!

I emailed my senators because obviously Ted Kennedy and John Kerry are going to vote for it. (I also told them I don't like the tax cuts in the bill, but to vote for it anyway! Also to reinstate the family planning funding that the House cut.) But if you live in a state where your rep may be on the fence I'd take the time to call.

The Senate switchboard number is (202) 224-3121. If you can't get through or would rather send an e-mail, you can look up your Senator's contact information and web form at the Senate.gov site.

Group News Blog: Call the Senate: Show Our Numbers

WSJ: McCain Urges Supporters to Sign Petition Opposing Stimulus

Bruce Springsteen Up Close and Personal

More on Gillibrand's Political Herstory

NYTimes: [via (Albany) Times Union]
Mrs. Noonan in 1983 at the funeral of Mayor Erastus Corning 2nd of Albany

I can't believe that the only photo of Polly Noonan that the New York Times could come up with is of her mourning at Erastus Corning's funeral. Not one photo of her stuffing envelopes? This photo just perpetuates the stereotype that she was the little woman behind the man, when from the events described she was an equal partner consigned to a lesser role by custom and social roles.

NYTimes: Gillibrand’s Grandmother Also Wielded Political Power, but From the Wings

Schenectady Gazette: Senate choice learned politics early

President Obama's Weekly Web Address

Well, Morons, Now There's Hope

Parody of those annoying Snuggie ads:

Darn

Albany Times-Union: Rangers great, Richter, not in race for Gillibrand’s seat

Ricky would have been the best Democrat to run for Gillibrand's seat because he's got something most of the other Dems don't: name recognition. Plus he's wicked smart.

The O'Bama Song: A Capella

With additional verses!

White Sox, What Were You Waiting For?

How is that the Chicago White Sox waited so long to invite President Barack Obama to throw out the first pitch of the baseball season?

I mean, he is their Number One Fan!

I guarantee that Obama will NEVER declare that throwing out the first ball at any sporting event was the most anxious moment of his presidency, unlike some recently deposed moron we all know and despise.

Corporations Taking Bailout Money, Spending It Opposing Unions

Corporations are taking taxpayer money -- contributed by the workers of America, as most corporations in this country don't pay taxes -- and using it to lobby against the Employee Free Choice Act so they can keep workers under their thumbs. During an October 17th conference call hosted by Bank of America involving AIG, Home Depot and other US corporations, the corporate thieves suggest giving millions to a lobbying organization so they can get around the McCain-Feingold campaign finance laws. So, they've taken our money, and they're using it to lobby against us.

I've signed Change Congress's donor strike pledging not to donate to any federal candidate unless they support legislation making congressional elections citizen-funded, not special-interest funded.

HuffPo: Bailout Recipients Hosted Call To Defeat Key Labor Bill

Three days after receiving $25 billion in federal bailout funds, Bank of America Corp. hosted a conference call with conservative activists and business officials to organize opposition to the U.S. labor community's top legislative priority.

Participants on the October 17 call -- including at least one representative from another bailout recipient, AIG -- were urged to persuade their clients to send "large contributions" to groups working against the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), as well as to vulnerable Senate Republicans, who could help block passage of the bill.

Bernie Marcus, the charismatic co-founder of Home Depot, led the call along with Rick Berman, an aggressive EFCA opponent and founder of the Center for Union Facts. Over the course of an hour, the two framed the legislation as an existential threat to American capitalism, or worse.

"This is the demise of a civilization," said Marcus. "This is how a civilization disappears. I am sitting here as an elder statesman and I'm watching this happen and I don't believe it."

You can listen to the call here on Wikileaks. Just click the blue "audio-recording" at the top of the page.

Obama Signs Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act

Today President Obama signed his first piece of legislation into law. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act restores the civil rights law guaranteeing discrimination victims equal pay that the rightwing nutjobs (Roberts, Alito, Kennedy, Scalia, Thomas) on the Supreme Court overturned in the Ledbetter v. Goodyear decision.

I'm sure Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, one of the first female bank vice presidents in Hawaii, is smiling down on him today.



An excerpt of Obama's remarks:

Because while this bill bears her name, Lilly knows this story isn’t just about her. It’s the story of women across this country still earning just 78 cents for every dollar men earn – women of color even less – which means that today, in the year 2009, countless women are still losing thousands of dollars in salary, income and retirement savings over the course of a lifetime.

But equal pay is by no means just a women’s issue – it’s a family issue. It’s about parents who find themselves with less money for tuition or child care; couples who wind up with less to retire on; households where, when one breadwinner is paid less than she deserves, that’s the difference between affording the mortgage – or not; between keeping the heat on, or paying the doctor’s bills – or not. And in this economy, when so many folks are already working harder for less and struggling to get by, the last thing they can afford is losing part of each month’s paycheck to simple discrimination.

So in signing this bill today, I intend to send a clear message: That making our economy work means making sure it works for everyone. That there are no second class citizens in our workplaces, and that it’s not just unfair and illegal – but bad for business – to pay someone less because of their gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion or disability. And that justice isn’t about some abstract legal theory, or footnote in a casebook – it’s about how our laws affect the daily realities of people’s lives: their ability to make a living and care for their families and achieve their goals.

Ultimately, though, equal pay isn’t just an economic issue for millions of Americans and their families, it’s a question of who we are – and whether we’re truly living up to our fundamental ideals. Whether we’ll do our part, as generations before us, to ensure those words put to paper more than 200 years ago really mean something – to breathe new life into them with the more enlightened understandings of our time.

That is what Lilly Ledbetter challenged us to do. And today, I sign this bill not just in her honor, but in honor of those who came before her. Women like my grandmother who worked in a bank all her life, and even after she hit that glass ceiling, kept getting up and giving her best every day, without complaint, because she wanted something better for me and my sister.

And I sign this bill for my daughters, and all those who will come after us, because I want them to grow up in a nation that values their contributions, where there are no limits to their dreams and they have opportunities their mothers and grandmothers never could have imagined.

In the end, that’s why Lilly stayed the course. She knew it was too late for her – that this bill wouldn’t undo the years of injustice she faced or restore the earnings she was denied. But this grandmother from Alabama kept on fighting, because she was thinking about the next generation. It’s what we’ve always done in America – set our sights high for ourselves, but even higher for our children and grandchildren.

Now it’s up to us to continue this work. This bill is an important step – a simple fix to ensure fundamental fairness to American workers – and I want to thank this remarkable and bi-partisan group of legislators who worked so hard to get it passed. And this is only the beginning. I know that if we stay focused, as Lilly did – and keep standing for what’s right, as Lilly did – we will close that pay gap and ensure that our daughters have the same rights, the same chances, and the same freedom to pursue their dreams as our sons.

The Barack O'Bama Song

My cousin, she of the driveway poster waving bye-bye to Darth and Shrub, sent me this in email. Obama's our people! "He's as Irish as bacon"!

Moneygall is a small village in County Offaly, Ireland. It has a population of 298 people, has a Roman Catholic church, five shops, a post office, a national school, a police station and two pubs.

President Barack Obama's great-great-great grandfather, Falmouth Kearney, emigrated from Moneygall to New York City at the age of 19 in 1850 and eventually resettled in Tipton County, Indiana. Kearney 's father had been the village shoemaker. [You can see the Irish portion of President Obama's genealogy here.]

And now for the SONG...Crank up your speakers.

Lyrics:

No one as Irish as Barack Obama


O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama

You don't believe me, I hear you say
But Barack's as Irish, as was JFK
His granddaddy's daddy came from Moneygall
A small Irish village, well known to you all

Toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a lama
There's no one as Irish As Barack O'Bama

He's as Irish as bacon and cabbage and stew
He's Hawaiian he's Kenyan American too
He’s in the white house, He took his chance
Now let’s see Barack do Riverdance

Toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a lama
There's no one as Irish As Barack O'Bama

From Kerry and cork to old Donegal
Let’s hear it for Barack from old moneygall
From the lakes if Killarney to old Connemara
There’s no one as Irish as Barack O’Bama

O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama
From the old blarney stone to the great hill of Tara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama

2008 the white house is green, their cheering in Mayo and in Skibereen.
The Irish in Kenya, and in Yokahama,
Are cheering for President Barack O’Bama

O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama

The Hockey Mom's gone, and so is McCain
They are cheering in Texas and in Borrisokane,

In Moneygall town, the greatest of drama, for our Famous president Barack o Bama

Toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a loo, toor a lama
There's no one as Irish As Barack O'Bama

The great Stephen Neill, a great man of God,
He proved that Barack was from the Auld Sod
They came by bus and they came by car, to celebrate Barack in Ollie Hayes’s Bar

O'Leary, O'Reilly, O'Hare and O'Hara
There's no one as Irish as Barack O'Bama

By
Hardy Drew

Bipartisanship: The Enduring Myth

Obama put $300 billion in tax cuts into his economic stimulus plan, cut funds for family planning and refurbishing the National Mall, all to appease Republicans, and guess what?

Not one Republican voted for his "bipartisan" stimulus plan.

In Washington, "bipartisanship" is doing what the Republicans want.

They're not going to vote for your bill, Obama. Just craft the best stimulus possible and forget them. They want the economy to fail. They've been working hard at that for the last eight years.

I don't need $500. I need you to fix the bridges I drive across every day. Get to work the smart way. You don't need those bozos.

Reprieve

Out-Of-Town News in Harvard Square will stay open after all. Hurray!

Another Reason to Avoid High Fructose Corn Syrup

It's contaminated with mercury.

[M]any foods sweetened with HFCS contain mercury, left as a residue in the production of caustic soda, a key ingredient in HFCS. And worst of all, the FDA and the industry have known about this potential toxin and has continued serving it up since at least 2005.

[]

A second study [] tested products directly from the supermarket. One in three tested positive for mercury residue. These included products like Smucker's Strawberry Jelly, Hunt's Tomato Ketchup, Hershey's Chocolate Syrup, Nutra Grain Strawberry Cereal Bars, Pop-Tarts Frosted Blueberry and Coca-Cola Classic.

RIP John Updike

NYTimes: The author at the Boston Public Library in 2006.

John Updike died yesterday at the age of 76. My favorite piece of his -- my favorite piece of sportswriting ever -- was on the final game of Ted William's career:

Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu

Like a feather caught in a vortex, Williams ran around the square of bases at the center of our beseeching screaming. He ran as he always ran out home runs—hurriedly, unsmiling, head down, as if our praise were a storm of rain to get out of. He didn’t tip his cap. Though we thumped, wept, and chanted “We want Ted” for minutes after he hid in the dugout, he did not come back. Our noise for some seconds passed beyond excitement into a kind of immense open anguish, a wailing, a cry to be saved. But immortality is nontransferable. The papers said that the other players, and even the umpires on the field, begged him to come out and acknowledge us in some way, but he never had and did not now. Gods do not answer letters.

NYTimes: A Relentless Updike Mapped America’s Mysteries

Obituary: John Updike, a Lyrical Writer of the Ordinary, Is Dead at 76

The New Yorker: John Updike Short Story Archive

Gillibrand Sworn In

Kirsten Gillibrand is now the junior Senator from New York. Pretty meteoric rise for someone who entered the 20th NY Congressional race in 2005 as a virtual unknown.

She is the youngest member of the Senate, and is the 37th woman ever to serve in the United States Senate.

Inauguration Poster

 

My cousin put this awesome poster up at the end of her driveway to celebrate the End of the Error.

Albany Times-Union Goes There

Whenever I visit my friend who lives in Albany and the subject of Kirsten Gillibrand comes up, she always tells me that "everyone knows" that Gillibrand's grandmother Polly Noonan was Erastus Corning's mistress. (Erastus Corning was the long-time mayor of Albany and the leader of Albany's Democratic machine.) I have never written that on my blog because, you know, I don't want to be sued for libel! The Albany Times-Union delves into the rumors today.

Political legacy arives on stage
Kirsten Gillibrand received her first experiences in Albany politics from her grandmother, the legendary "Polly" Noonan

Mayor Corning [] was an intimate of Polly Noonans for more than four decades.

Gillibrands parents and other family members have described Corning as a father figure who taught the Noonan kids how to hunt, fish and enjoy outdoor pursuits. The mayor was a regular guest of Noonan and her husband at the Noonans house. Corning and Noonan frequently attended political functions, dinners and dances together and the mayor occasionally joined the Noonan on family vacations.

Even on Gillibrands heady day that resembled something of a coronation, her family members could not escape the unquenchable rumors that Corning and Noonans long association produced offspring. It remains one of Albanys great abiding political myths, a mystery wrapped in an enigma, likely never to be resolved.

Until her death in 2003 at age 87, Noonan bluntly dismissed the rumors with salty-tongued retorts. Corning deftly deflected such speculation with his cool, urbane personality. He died in 1983 at age 73.

Noonan and Corning each remained married to their respective spouses throughout their lives. If there was a romance, family members say, the two took the truth to the grave with them.

"I don't think there is any truth to that. Its pure conjecture," Gillibrand's father said.

[]

Corning and Noonan became close in 1937, when Corning, 28, was a Democratic state senator who headed the Scenic Hudson Commission and Noonan, 22, was hired as the commission's secretary. He was a product of Groton and Yale; she was a tenacious Scot who touted her tartan but did not have a college degree.

Giving weight to the rumors that their union "produced offspring" is that fact that Corning left the bulk of his estate to Noonan's children (that would include Gillibrand's mother.)

CHAPTER ONE
Mayor Erastus Corning
Albany Icon, Albany Enigma

Grow Up

Why must politicians treat their work like jr. high school?

There were plenty of smiles as she [Kirsten Gillibrand] was introduced in Albany last week, but Gillibrand is widely disliked within New York’s congressional delegation for her bullying personality and unwillingness to wait her turn in the Washington seniority queue. Already Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy, of Long Island, has vowed to challenge Gillibrand in a 2010 Democratic primary because of the new senator’s pro-gun stance. Paterson seems to believe that he has cauterized the intramural Democratic fighting. Instead, the elevation of Gillibrand has widened the wound. Last Thursday, one of the governor’s aides called Andrew Cuomo, asking the attorney general to attend Gillibrand’s unveiling. Cuomo, according to a friend, said he’d be busy reorganizing his sock drawer.

This is also completely sexist, for in a man, "bullying personality" would be described as "hard-charging go-getter". Every time I read something like this about Gillibrand, I like her more.

President Obama's Weekly Web Address

Transcript:

Remarks of President Barack Obama

Weekly Address

Saturday, January 24th, 2009


We begin this year and this Administration in the midst of an unprecedented crisis that calls for unprecedented action. Just this week, we saw more people file for unemployment than at any time in the last twenty-six years, and experts agree that if nothing is done, the unemployment rate could reach double digits. Our economy could fall $1 trillion short of its full capacity, which translates into more than $12,000 in lost income for a family of four. And we could lose a generation of potential, as more young Americans are forced to forgo college dreams or the chance to train for the jobs of the future.

In short, if we do not act boldly and swiftly, a bad situation could become dramatically worse.

That is why I have proposed an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan to immediately jumpstart job creation as well as long-term economic growth. I am pleased to say that both parties in Congress are already hard at work on this plan, and I hope to sign it into law in less than a month.

It’s a plan that will save or create three to four million jobs over the next few years, and one that recognizes both the paradox and the promise of this moment - the fact that there are millions of Americans trying to find work even as, all around the country, there’s so much work to be done. That’s why this is not just a short-term program to boost employment. It’s one that will invest in our most important priorities like energy and education; health care and a new infrastructure that are necessary to keep us strong and competitive in the 21st century.

Today I’d like to talk specifically about the progress we expect to make in each of these areas.

To accelerate the creation of a clean energy economy, we will double our capacity to generate alternative sources of energy like wind, solar, and biofuels over the next three years. We’ll begin to build a new electricity grid that lay down more than 3,000 miles of transmission lines to convey this new energy from coast to coast. We’ll save taxpayers $2 billion a year by making 75% of federal buildings more energy efficient, and save the average working family $350 on their energy bills by weatherizing 2.5 million homes.

To lower health care cost, cut medical errors, and improve care, we’ll computerize the nation’s health record in five years, saving billions of dollars in health care costs and countless lives. And we’ll protect health insurance for more than 8 million Americans who are in danger of losing their coverage during this economic downturn.

To ensure our children can compete and succeed in this new economy, we’ll renovate and modernize 10,000 schools, building state-of-the-art classrooms, libraries, and labs to improve learning for over five million students. We’ll invest more in Pell Grants to make college affordable for seven million more students, provide a $2,500 college tax credit to four million students, and triple the number of fellowships in science to help spur the next generation of innovation.

Finally, we will rebuild and retrofit America to meet the demands of the 21st century. That means repairing and modernizing thousands of miles of America’s roadways and providing new mass transit options for millions of Americans. It means protecting America by securing 90 major ports and creating a better communications network for local law enforcement and public safety officials in the event of an emergency. And it means expanding broadband access to millions of Americans, so business can compete on a level-playing field, wherever they’re located.

I know that some are skeptical about the size and scale of this recovery plan. I understand that skepticism, which is why this recovery plan must and will include unprecedented measures that will allow the American people to hold my Administration accountable for these results. We won’t just throw money at our problems - we’ll invest in what works. Instead of politicians doling out money behind a veil of secrecy, decisions about where we invest will be made public, and informed by independent experts whenever possible. We’ll launch an unprecedented effort to root out waste, inefficiency, and unnecessary spending in our government, and every American will be able to see how and where we spend taxpayer dollars by going to a new website called recovery.gov.

No one policy or program will solve the challenges we face right now, nor will this crisis recede in a short period of time. But if we act now and act boldly; if we start rewarding hard work and responsibility once more; if we act as citizens and not partisans and begin again the work of remaking America, then I have faith that we will emerge from this trying time even stronger and more prosperous than we were before. Thanks for listening.

RIP Kay Yow (Updated)

Kay Yow died today. She was 66 and had fought breast cancer for 22 years.

I met Kay Yow once, at the Women's Final Four in Los Angeles in 1992. She was there for the Women's Basketball Coaches Association convention. We rode in an elevator down to the lobby with her. They were glassed in elevators that made a lot of people nervous. She was tall and lean, rangy and a little stooped over. (I didn't know she was a cancer survivor already). She had a rough, husky voice and an electric presence. She told some joke that had a slightly bawdy punchline, laughed uproariously at her own joke, said goodbye to everyone on the elevator and strode off when the doors opened.

That's the way I'll remember Kay Yow, the force of nature I met that day.

RIP Kay Yow.


NewsObserver.com: Yow's story touched players, fans

Mechelle Voepel, ESPN.com: Yow's considerable efforts will live on

AP: Kay Yow, Basketball Coach, Dies at 66

NewsObserver.com: A Chronology of Kay Yow's Life

Photo Gallery, Kay Yow, 1942-2009

UPDATE: Go to this link for a wide-ranging interview with Kay Yow (did you know her first name was Sandra?) as part of the University of North Carolina's Southern Oral History Program Collection. You can listen to the audio or read the transcript of the interview.

Scorecard

The Obameter: Tracking Obama's Campaign Promises

I'm bookmarking this site so I can follow President Obama's progress.

The Obameter: Tracking Obama's Campaign Promises
Tracking Obama’s promises

* Promise Kept 5

* Compromise 1

* Promise Broken 0

* Stalled 1

* In the Works 14

* No Action 488

Open the Crown!

This would be great news. Now if they would just get rid of the over-the-top Wackenhut "security" we would be free to visit the Statue of Liberty again.

Boston Globe: Salazar may reopen Liberty's crown

NEW YORK - Interior Secretary Ken Salazar visited the Statue of Liberty yesterday and said he will consider reopening its crown, which has been off-limits to tourists since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"I hope we can find a way," Salazar said in a statement. "It would proclaim to the world - both figuratively and literally - that the path to the light of liberty is open to all."

Salazar traveled to the monument and nearby Ellis Island at the request of Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, who accompanied him.

Menendez and Senator Charles Schumer of New York, both Democrats, sponsored a bill in 2006 that would require the interior secretary to reopen the crown to the public. Salazar, as a Democratic senator from Colorado, introduced a similar amendment later that year as part of legislation to overhaul immigration laws.

The National Park Service opposes opening the crown to the public because the structure and the only staircase to it weren't designed for mass use.

It's Gillibrand for Hillary's Senate Seat

Winning over her constituents
NYTimes: Ms. Gillibrand arriving at a farm in Cambridge, N.Y., in April 2007 to meet with residents of the area to discuss a bill meant to protect dairy farmers.
Photo: Nathaniel Brooks for The New York Times

Coach Mom loses a Congresswoman and gains a Senator: Kirsten Gillibrand has been named by New York Governor David Paterson to fill the remaining two years of Hillary Clinton's Senate term.

Some liberals are freaking out because she has the worst record of any New York Congressional representative on gay issues (only 80% positive from the Human Rights Campaign [pdf file]) and supports the right to bear arms. I would point out to my freaked out colleagues that her position on gay rights is the same as one Barack Obama's and that her position on the 2nd Amendment is the same as one Howard Dean's. Chill.

Hilariously, one blog called her "a bizarro version of Sarah Palin: she proudly touts her 100 percent rating from the National Rifle Association", which would only be accurate if Palin had a degree from Dartmouth in Asian Studies or if she was a lawyer. Gillibrand speaks in full sentences and has never claimed foreign policy expertise. Or that she can see Canada from her house.

OK, Gillibrand is not as liberal as I would like. She voted with the Rethugs on FISA and for that reason I didn't give her any money this year. But she is smart, tenacious and learns on the job. She sat on the Agriculture Committee in the House and impressed all the farmers in Delaware County by learning about the issues important to them. I hope as Senator she will continue her "Sunshine" policy and list all of her meetings on her website. And I hope to meet her at the Delaware County Fair this summer. I hope we're still on her dance card now that she represents the whole state of New York.

Jon Stewart Watches Fox News So You Don't Have To

Fox News is apparently in full panic mode over the election of Barack Obama. Run for your lives, wingnuts!

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Fox News Fear Imbalance

Barack Obama Interview
John McCain Interview

Sarah Palin Video
Funny Election Video

Barack Mania Down Under

BBC Day in Pictures: Tennis fans show their support for US President Barack Obama - who was not on court at the Australian Open in Melbourne.

One Year Ago

Reuters: : US Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) (C) reacts as he holds a baby at a rally in Columbia, South Carolina January 20, 2008.

Obama's Weekly Web Address

Read Liberally

This is Bush's legacy -- a stunning series of alibis.

The miracle on the Hudson was brought to you by America's unions.

I'm heading out of town, to a family funeral, and then to the Inauguration, for which I may even have scored a ticket! Regular posting will resume next Friday.

Three More Days

The David Letterman Show's compilation of Great Moments in Presidential Speeches:



Just three more days.

Obama: You Can Enjoy the Inauguration, Too!

Guess Who's Going to the Inauguration?

No tickets for me, but that choir from Atlanta that sang You Can Vote However You Like? They're going. They heard live on Good Morning America this morning. Chaos ensues:

Six Days And Counting

Punk'd: The Art Episode

Times: In reality, [David Cerny] designed all the elements of his Entropa installation himself. Cerny did not create an entry for Britain because he said the country did not want to be part of Europe. Romania is depicted as a giant Dracula theme park in tribute to the Transylvania region of the East European country

Controversial artist David Cerny punk'd the European Union by creating a giant art installation (supposedly created by artists from each country) that mocks the member countries by portraying them as gross stereotypes. How to choose the best mocking? I have to go with leaving an empty space for Great Britain, as they never really wanted to be in the EU at all! But I imagine Bulgaria, portrayed as a giant lavatory, was the most upset. And that Romanian Dracula is hilarious.

Times (uk): Czech sculptor David Cerny admits £350,000 EU art hoax

It seemed like such a good idea at the time: what better way to celebrate the Czech Republic’s presidency of the European Union than a giant art installation, with input from every member state, showing what we really feel about our place in Europe?

True, some of the 27 entries were a little unusual. The eight-tonne work, entitled Entropa, depicted Romania as a Dracula theme park and the Netherlands as completely covered by water, with only the tops of minarets sticking out. The French component had the word “Strike!” emblazoned on it. And was that a hint of a swastika in the German entry, a bird’s-eye view of a series of autobahns?

It was several days, however, before anyone complained and the EU began to smell a rat. Only when Bulgaria – depicted as a Turkish lavatory – objected did the Czechs start to question the organiser of the project, the artist David Cerny. Yesterday Mr Cerny admitted that the whole thing had been a hoax, and that he had created all the sculptures himself and invented the names of the “up-and-coming” artists from the 27 member states.

There was also the question of what became of £350,000 in funding meant for the artists.

[]

The discovery explains why journalists were unable to find British artist “Khalid Asadi” to ask him why he chose not to contribute a sculpture – an omission explained in Mr Cerny’s brochure as a statement that Britain did not want to be part of Europe.

Photo Gallery: Entropa

Finally - Jim Rice Elected to Hall of Fame

Boston Herald: AP file
In this March 1989 file photo, Red Sox designated hitter Jim Rice gets set to take batting practice at training camp in Winter Haven, Fla.

'Bout time. Jim Ed's numbers look better and better as the steroid freaks shrink back to the size of their testicles. He got 76.4% of the vote; 75% is required.

Rice's stats, from the Jim Rice for the Baseball Hall of Fame website:

JIM RICE Highlights:
One of league's dominating hitters for 12 years, from 1975-1986
Averaged .304, 29 HR, 106 RBIs during this period
4 - 200 hit seasons, 11 - 20 HR seasons, 8 - 100 RBI seasons
only player to get 200 hits / 35 HRs 3 consecutive years
6 times Top 5 in MVP voting
8 time all-star
8 time Top 10 slugging, including 5 times in Top 2
4 times league leader in Total Bases
Only AL player since 1937 to have 400+ bases in one season
Outstanding defensive left fielder
Career Totals: 2,452 Hits, 382 HR, 1,451 RBI, 79 Triples

Remember: These achievements came in the pre-steroids era when hitting 30 HR a year was a big deal.

Oh, and Rickey Henderson was elected to the Hall of Fame today, too, but Jim Rice is the big story.


Boston.com: Rice Elected to Hall

Boston.com photo gallery: Rice Through the Years

Bob Ryan, Boston Globe: Nudging Rice over the borderline

Boston Herald: Sox’ Rice gets call to Hall, finally

Boston Herald Photo Gallery: Elected

The Internet Is Filled With Weird and Wonderful Things

Like this wacky interview on Japanese TV immediately following Manchester United's victory in the FIFA Club World Cup last month, starring bemused but game Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. Iron Chef meets Match of the Day.

Obama's Weekly Web Address

We start this new year in the midst of an economic crisis unlike any we have seen in our lifetime. We learned yesterday that in the past month alone, we lost more than half a million jobs – a total of nearly 2.6 million in the year 2008. Another 3.4 million Americans who want and need full-time work have had to settle for part-time jobs. And families across America are feeling the pinch as they watch debts mount, bills pile up and savings disappear.

These numbers are a stark reminder that we simply cannot continue on our current path. If nothing is done, economists from across the spectrum tell us that this recession could linger for years and the unemployment rate could reach double digits – and they warn that our nation could lose the competitive edge that has served as a foundation for our strength and standing in the world.

It’s not too late to change course – but only if we take immediate and dramatic action. Our first job is to put people back to work and get our economy working again. This is an extraordinary challenge, which is why I’ve taken the extraordinary step of working – even before I take office – with my economic team and leaders of both parties on an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan that will call for major investments to revive our economy, create jobs, and lay a solid foundation for future growth.

I asked my nominee for Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, Dr. Christina Romer, and the Vice President-Elect’s Chief Economic Adviser, Dr. Jared Bernstein, to conduct a rigorous analysis of this plan and come up with projections of how many jobs it will create – and what kind of jobs they will be. Today, I am releasing a report of their findings so that the American people can see exactly what this plan will mean for their families, their communities, and our economy.

The report confirms that our plan will likely save or create three to four million jobs. 90 percent of these jobs will be created in the private sector – the remaining 10 percent are mainly public sector jobs we save, like the teachers, police officers, firefighters and others who provide vital services in our communities.

The jobs we create will be in businesses large and small across a wide range of industries. And they’ll be the kind of jobs that don’t just put people to work in the short term, but position our economy to lead the world in the long-term.

We’ll create nearly half a million jobs by investing in clean energy – by committing to double the production of alternative energy in the next three years, and by modernizing more than 75% of federal buildings and improving the energy efficiency of two million American homes. These made-in-America jobs building solar panels and wind turbines, developing fuel-efficient cars and new energy technologies pay well, and they can’t be outsourced.

We’ll create hundreds of thousands of jobs by improving health care – transitioning to a nationwide system of computerized medical records that won’t just save money, but save lives by preventing deadly medical errors. And we’ll create hundreds of thousands more jobs in education, equipping tens of thousands of schools with 21st century classrooms, labs and computers to help our kids compete with any worker in the world for any job.

We’ll put nearly 400,000 people to work by repairing our infrastructure – our crumbling roads, bridges and schools. And we’ll build the new infrastructure we need to succeed in this new century, investing in science and technology, and laying down miles of new broadband lines so that businesses across our nation can compete with their counterparts around the world.

Finally, we won’t just create jobs, we’ll also provide help for those who’ve lost theirs, and for states and families who’ve been hardest-hit by this recession. That means bi-partisan extensions of unemployment insurance and health care coverage; a $1,000 tax cut for 95 percent of working families; and assistance to help states avoid harmful budget cuts in essential services like police, fire, education and health care.

Now, given the magnitude of the challenges we face, none of this will come easy. Recovery won’t happen overnight, and it’s likely that things will get worse before they get better.

But we have come through moments like this before. We are the nation that has faced down war, depression and fear itself – each time, refusing to yield; each time, refusing to accept a lesser fate. That is the spirit that has always sustained us – that belief that our destiny is not written for us, but by us; that our success is not a matter of chance, but of our own courage and determination. Our resources may be finite, but our will is infinite. And I am confident that if we come together and summon that great American spirit once again, we will meet the challenges of our time and write the next great chapter in our American story.

The Mom Song (Updated)

UPDATE: Not sure why the original video I posted has been pulled, but here are more performances of this hilarious song:








Don't make me come down there!

Lyrics: "The Mom Song"

Get up now
Get up now
Get up out of bed
Wash your face
Brush your teeth
Comb your sleepyhead
Here's your clothes and your shoes
Hear the words I said
Get up now! Get up and make your bed
Are you hot? Are you cold?
Are you wearing that?
Where's your books and your lunch and your homework at?
Grab your coat and gloves and your scarf and hat
Don't forget! You gotta feed the cat
Eat your breakfast, the experts tell us it's the most important meal of all
Take your vitamins so you will grow up one day to be big and tall
Please remember the orthodontist will be seeing you at 3 today
Don't forget your piano lesson is this afternoon so you must play
Don't shovel
Chew slowly
But hurry
The bus is here
Be careful
Come back here
Did you wash behind your ears?
Play outside, don't play rough, will you just play fair?
Be polite, make a friend, don't forget to share
Work it out, wait your turn, never take a dare
Get along! Don't make me come down there
Clean your room, fold your clothes, put your stuff away
Make your bed, do it now, do we have all day?
Were you born in a barn? Would you like some hay?
Can you even hear a word I say?
Answer the phone! Get off the phone!
Don't sit so close, turn it down, no texting at the table
No more computer time tonight!
Your iPod's my iPod if you don't listen up
Where are you going and with whom and what time do you think you're coming home?
Saying thank you, please, excuse me makes you welcome everywhere you roam
You'll appreciate my wisdom someday when you're older and you're grown
Can't wait till you have a couple little children of your own
You'll thank me for the counsel I gave you so willingly
But right now I thank you not to roll your eyes at me
Close your mouth when you chew, would appreciate
Take a bite maybe two of the stuff you hate
Use your fork, do not burp or I'll set you straight
Eat the food I put upon your plate
Get an A, get the door, don't get smart with me
Get a grip, get in here, I'll count to three
Get a job, get a life, get a PHD
Get a dose of,
"I don't care who started it!
You're grounded until you're 36"
Get your story straight and tell the truth for once, for heaven's sake
And if all your friends jumped off a cliff would you jump, too?
If I've said it once, I've said at least a thousand times before
That you're too old to act this way
It must be your father's DNA
Look at me when I am talking
Stand up straighter when you walk
A place for everything and everything must be in place
Stop crying or I'll give you something real to cry about
Oh!
Brush your teeth, wash your face, put your PJs on
Get in bed, get a hug, say a prayer with mom
Don't forget, I love you
And tomorrow we will do this all again because a mom's work never ends
You don't need the reason why
Because, because, because, because
I said so, I said so, I said so, I said so
I'm the mom, the mom, the mom, the mom, the mom!!
Ta da!!!

One Way to Celebrate the Inauguration

Life: Inauguration
First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy chatting w. her debonaire brother-in-law, actor Peter Lawford, as they stand w. others at JFK's Inaugural Ball. Washington, DC, January 21, 1961, Photographer Paul Schutzer

I'm planning to drive down to my sister's and go to the mall on Inauguration with the other hundreds of thousands of happy Americans. Weather permitting, of course. We've had more winter in six weeks than we get most years. Snow storm, ice storm, snow storm, snow storm, snow storm, ice storm -- now we're scheduled to get snowed under again tonight and tomorrow.

So if the weather prevents me from attending the Inauguration, what will I do? I think I'll follow the example of this elderly South Carolina friend of Michelle Harrell, a professor at Roxbury Community College:

"On Inauguration Day, she's going to get up, put on her best suit, her fur, her panty hose, heels, and gloves, and she's going to sit in her living room and watch the inauguration," Harrell said. "Then she's going to take a nap. After dinner, she'll put on her long formal gown, her makeup and her jewelry, sit in her living room and watch the ball." The old woman told Harrell's sister she could join her -- provided she was properly attired.

Now that's a plan.

Top 10 George Bush Moments

Sometimes you'd rather laugh at George W. Bush than cry about what he's done to the world:

One Year Ago In New Hampshire

Obama Economic Recovery Plan

Excerpts of Obama's speech outlining his plan to end the Bush Recession, via dailykos:

Just For Laughs

Robin Williams on Obama and American politics, for an English audience:

The Arts Go First

Looks like I'm losing my studio space. The Worcester Craft Center, where I have rented space for the past two years, has announced it is closing its doors for a "strategic pause" [pdf file]. To me, strategic pause sounds very ominous. The Board is basically giving up and putting out an APB for funding. I'm not sure whether to use the past tense or the present tense in writing this post. The Center took the studio renters money for January so we are allowed to continue to use our spaces until the end of the month; but there are no longer any employees at the Center. No classes, no gift shop, no one to pay for supplies or clay, no one to fire the kilns, no one to maintain the equipment.

Everyone but the Executive Director was fired yesterday; a few people will stay on for a day or two, but that's it. They even closed the gift shop so apparently bringing in modest amounts of money is not considered important. (The gift shop was profitable.) The glass studio which is in a separate building is now offering all kinds of rentals, of space and different kinds of equipment.

The Craft Center has been in financial straits for years and the economic crisis has made things worse. Here's the financial situation according to the Telegram:

The decision, reached at a trustees meeting Monday night, came after pressure from creditors and a significant decline in tuition, donations and other revenue added up to a shortfall of about $700,000, said David J. Firstenberg, president of the board of trustees. To reopen, the center needs about $1.2 million, to retire debt and finance a restart, he said, while acknowledging that that is a steep challenge in the current economic climate.

Last summer, the Center for Crafts had just begun to recover from several years of serious financial struggles. The board had worked hard to stabilize the venerable institution, Ms. Walzer had been hired as a permanent director after a period when the position had been a revolving-door, and a $1.2 million capital campaign was showing promise. The board had hoped to use some of the money to rebuild the staff after several rounds of budget cuts in recent years had gutted it. There was no marketing director or accountant on staff, for example, and several craft areas languished without department heads.

Then, in October, the recession deepened and the money flow ebbed. Some capital campaign pledges didn’t come through, and investment portfolios deflated. Tuition revenue declined as prospective students became more conservative with spending.

[]

The craft center is hampered in borrowing its way out of the crisis by the debt it has already incurred. Among major creditors are vendors such as utilities and printers, who are owed about $140,000. “A significant portion of that is over 90 days and so we’ve been stringing vendors along and that gets dicey after a while,” Mr. Firstenberg said.

There also is a substantial institutional debt. The Non-Profit Funding Foundation loaned the craft center $330,000 in 2004, on which $290,000 is still owed. “We’ve been making interest-only payments for a period of time and they’ve been, not at all inappropriately, asking when we were going to begin making principal payments,” Mr. Firstenberg said. The Commonwealth National Bank in Worcester, where the craft center does most of its banking, also has been receiving interest-only payments on loans totaling about $29,000, he said. Other debt is in friendlier hands, he said, friends of the institution that had made loans last fiscal year to help hold the center over until pledge money came in.

I stopped in yesterday afternoon to check on the work which came out of the soda kiln the Monday before Christmas. (Which turned out really well, BTW.) The lights were off, but I figured that there was just no one in working. Nope. The head of the clay studio broke the bad news to me; of course, it's far worse for him, a loyal 15-year-professional who is out of a job. Apparently rumors had been swirling around the entire time I've been gone, so at least I missed the anticipatory anxiety. I just get the thud of loss and stress.

Angry deep thought: If the Craft Center had had the foresight to change its name to Worcester Center for Banking and Crafts a few years ago, we could fill out a two page form [pdf file] and get a billion dollars from Hank Paulsen.

This is a tragedy for the city of Worcester. The schoolkids who took classes at the Center, the high school students in the Teen Apprentice Program, all the adults who have taken classes, all will miss the school. Of course, part of the problem that the Crafts Center has had is that it is not the most well-known of Worcester's cultural institutions. PR was never their strong suit.

The clay studio is the largest of the Craft Center's areas by number of students, and that community will want to stay together. One of the great things about the Craft Center is the ability to work in a collegial atmosphere, with everyone getting great ideas and inspiration from each other. If the Center does close that will be my priority, being able to stay in touch and work near some of the artists I've met and become good friends with.

A sad day.


Worcester Telegram: Center for Crafts shuts doors

Slide Show: Worcester Craft Center Over the Years

Worcester Craft Center

Strategic Pause letter from WCC (pdf)

New Street Glass Studio Hot Shop Rental Rates

Obama's Weekly Web Address

It's the economy, stupid.

Obama's Holiday Message

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!