Lincolnite

Nebraskans love to gripe. Our standard favorite target? The weather, of course. But Husker football comes in a close #2. Right now the most obvious target within Husker athletics -- according to some people, anyway -- is Athletic Director Steve Pederson. Some people don't like Steve Pederson. No, scratch that. Some people HATE Steve Pederson. Now some people have a website. Tread carefully, though; the place is a veritable intellectual vacuum. Full disclosure: I am neither a Pederson fan, nor am I on the Fire Steve! bandwagon. I am more or less agnostic on the matter. If you are a Husker fan, or if you have a dog in this fight, by all means take a while to browse around the website. It's a hoot. You'll have a hard time finding more straw men anywhere, with the possible exception of a Rush Limbaugh broadcast. Logical leaps, fallacies, and -- this is petty, I know -- typos gallore litter the site. That's not to say the website doesn't make a point. It does, albeit the point it makes is pretty stale by now. But any advocacy effort needs to have a basic grasp of the principles of effective communication. On this point the FireSteve.com folks fail. Much of the FireSteve.com mantra is juvenile and ridiculous, like something you would expect a group of high school students to come up with. Heck, maybe the site is run by high school students. Bored high school students who need to spend more time on their English homework. I know there are a couple of regular readers out there who agree with pretty much everything on firesteve.com. I would love to hear your comments.

Democrats tries their darndest to lose this year. First they treated Howard Dean as a contender. Then they selected John F. Kerry -- JFK, get it? -- as their candidate. Then they actually let Kerry out in public where everybody could see for themselves how unappealing a candidate he was. THEN some bozo elector in Minnesota voted for John Edwards, likely on accident. But New York's democrats take the cake. Throwing away 31 electoral votes on some guy named "John L. Kerry of the State of Massachusetts"? That's just going too far.

You can't have it! You can't take it away from me! I don't care if it'll kill me -- long before it does so it will have cured all my little aches and pains. Aleve is one of the few OTC medications that actually works for me. I'll be really ticked off if they decide to put it back behind the counter just because a few namby pambies kicked the bucket after being given overdoses for the sake of medical science. Not that I have too much to worry about right now. At my current rate of consumption any change in Aleve's availability should affect me in, oh, 8 years or so. I probably don't even use one of those little blue miracles -- no, not THAT little blue miracle -- per month. But taking away my Aleve would be like ripping my security blanket out of my hands. That's just mean!

Florida's tomato Nazis (aka the Florida Tomato Committee, a New Deal relic charged with ensuring tomato quality, because consumers are apparently too stupid to do that on their own) have decided that you shouldn't be able to have plentiful fresh tomatoes this winter. You'll just have to stick with the same old bland tomatoes you get every year? Why's that? Because the Florida Tomato Committee decided that the UglyRipe variety of tomato, despite its tastiness, is just too darn ugly to ship out of state. I bet you didn't know there was a government body that decided whether or not a tomato looks good enough for you to eat. Does it bother anybody else that taxpayer bucks are being used to fund this kind of tasteless (sorry) regulation? It bothers the heck out of me. Why should I care if somebody wants to buy ugly tomatoes, so long as they meet standard food safety guidelines? I happen to care a lot about the appearance of my food -- I won't eat a banana that's anything but bright yellow, for example -- but why is it the government's business to apply anal-retentive appearance standards, that have nothing to do with food quality, to my food? Appearance standards are for the free market to determine, aren't they? I'll bet by now you're thinking that the UglyRipe must be hideously ugly. It's not. It's a little lumpy, sure, but I wouldn't call it ugly. Heck, being a bit short in the produce intelligence department I probably wouldn't even notice anything different about them if I saw them in the grocery store. Yet another example of petty government excess blocking consumers from having a wide variety of choices. :: sigh::

Are you ever confused about which urinal to use in public restrooms? Don't fret! The Urinal Game is here to help. You'll never pick the wrong urinal again!

Joel Spolsky has an interesting article on pricing software. Although the article has a software orientation, the topics he covers are relevant to most any situation in which you want to know how much to charge for a product or service.

The Missus and I went out for our version of a night on the town last night. Dinner and a movie is about as exciting as our nights on the town ever get. But truthfully I don't think we could handle much more excitement than that. We began at Crawdaddy's, down in the Haymarket. Mrs. Wilson and I love Crawdaddy's. The place appears to be a total dive. Let's just say the interior won't ever compete with The Venue. But that's ok. It gives the place character, and it's a character Crawdaddy's is not afraid to embrace. When we walked in around 5:45 we were the only people there. What a shame. There really should be a wait at a place like Crawdaddy's. The food, as usual, was excellent. Mrs. Wilson got her usual crawfish pie, while I got my usual Ultimate Big Ass Burrito. My burrito was a little disappointing because it wasn't nearly as spicy as it could have been (I ordered it with Crawdaddy's own mofo salsa). That's probably for the best, though, because sitting in a movie theater with a gut full of habanero-based salsa probably could have made for a few uncomfortable moments -- or one very, very prolonged one. After Crawdaddy's we headed over to the Lincoln Grand, Lincoln's newest movie theater and, at 14 screens, its only megaplex. Douglas Theaters, the City of Lincoln, and the Downtown Lincoln Association all have high hopes for The Grand as part of Downtown Lincoln's revitalization. If Douglas doesn't get some better management into The Grand, it ain't gonna last long. Let me say one thing up front: The Grand is an attractive place, inside and out (although Mrs. Wils on was not crazy about the '70's orange countertops in the restrooms). The stadium seating is nice, the eye-catching exterior decor is nice ... you get the picture. But the things that people really remember -- like how long they had to stand in line to buy a ticket, and how organized the seating process was -- were executed very poorly. Most critically, none of the employees seemed to have been trained in the art of customer service. While waiting to enter our theater we stood among a mass of dozens of people. People wishing to see several different movies were all grouped together in one very disorganized -- and disgruntled -- mob. From what I could understand the "correct" procedure was to fight your way through the mob, find the ticket-taker at the front of the mob, ask him if your movie was seating yet, and when he told you no, return to the back of the mob. The procedure annoyed the hell out of the ticket-taker and the customers. And once the ticket-taker decided we could be seated ... what a madhouse. Eventually two more ticket-takers showed up to help, but the damage had been done. The movie we decided to see was Closer. I thought it was very well done, although I can certainly see why many people wouldn't like it. Closer is a tale of sex, trust, and betrayal among four people. In my opinion the four main actors -- Julia Roberts, Natalie Portman, Jude Law, and Clive Owen -- performed very well, but I'm no cinema buff. The movie moves pretty slowly and is mainly dialogue-driven, but it held my attention throughout. If you don't mind frank discussions about sex, I recommend seeing for yourself if Closer is something you enjoy. If you flip out at the mere hint of The Evil 'F' Word, Closer isn't for you.

Here's a repugnant headline from the Omaha World-Herald: Pregnant woman killed; 8-month fetus stolen. "Stolen?" One steals watches and cars and pretty little trinkets. One does not "steal" a human being. Ugh. [Update: 12/17/04 4:16pm]The thing was recovered! Oh wait, it's not a thing any more -- it has finally achieved baby status. In all seriousness, this is great news. At least now the poor grieving husband is not also a grieving father. Not that that's much of a consolation, but in a grisly situation like this, it's something.[/update]

This tale from the University of Oregon is pretty entertaining. Apparently last year's production of The Vagina Monologues didn't go over well because some groups were underrepresented: the "women of color community," the "plus-sized community," and the "queer community" were all offended that "their people" didn't have prominent roles (or any roles at all). So this year everybody gets to play, there are no auditions, and, in theory, everybody will be happy. Or something. Which raises the issue: I thought acting was all about being something you're not. Doesn't it take something away from the performance if everybody just plays ... herself?

There's a new dining venue in town called, oddly enough, Venue Restaurant and Lounge. It's not your everyday restaurant. Why? Well clue #1 is that they serve duck and creme brulee, not common features on menus in Lincoln, Nebraska. Clue #2 is that their steaks cost over $20. Again, not common in Lincoln. (After all, it's not like the steaks have to travel all that far to arrive at your plate.) It looks like a place that is worth visiting, if only rarely. There is certainly a market for snooty food in Lincoln, and Venue is likely to cater to a portion of that market. I, personally, wouldn't have chosen 70th & Pioneers as a location, though. The old Ruby Tuesday's in the Haymarket could have made an excellent location for this type of restaurant. Whereas 70th & Pioneers will rely on locals, a Haymarket location thrives on locals and visitors. And even if Venue is shooting for locals, southwest Lincoln may have been a wiser choice. There's a whoooole lot of money east of 27th Street and south of Old Cheney Road. Anyway, I wish the owners the best of luck. Lincolnites love their food, so as long as Venue actually serves food that's worth the price, they'll do just fine.

I have a loooong weekend ahead of me. Twelve indoor soccer games await me: 4 tonight, 4 tomorrow, and 4 on Sunday. The games on Saturday and Sunday don't bother me so much. But tonight's games mean I won't get home until 10:00pm or so, and I won't have eaten supper yet. My body will be pretty ticked off at me, but whaddayagonnado? On the plus side, the Missus and I hope to get together with friends on Saturday night. We don't have a specific plan yet, but I'm sure whatever plan we do come up with will include food. Mmmm...food.

Just for fun I gathered some references to eminent domain from Nebraska law and a few Attorney General opinions.

• Private property may not be taken under the power of eminent domain for a private use. Burger v. City of Beatrice, 181 Neb. 213, 147 N.W.2d 784 (1967). (cite)
• Right of eminent domain cannot be exercised for purely private purpose. Vetter v. Broadhurst, 100 Neb. 356, 160 N.W. 109 (1916). (cite)
• From an opinion by Attorney General Don Stenberg in 1995:

  In summary, property owners are quite limited in the remedies available to them when a municipality declares their property as substandard or blighted pursuant to the Nebraska Community Development Law. So long as a city and its community redevelopment authority strictly follow statutory procedural requirements, the city has the right to exercise eminent domain, notwithstanding a property owner's objection. The fact that a business or farm physically occupies the property would go to the amount of compensation, not the right of the city to acquire the property. To prevent the taking, the property owner would have to find a procedural irregularity, either in a statute or in the city's redevelopment plan, or be able to articulate why the taking is in fact not for a public purpose. Case law indicates public hearings are not required before property can be declared blighted, absent a statutory mandate. It is only necessary that the property meet the statutory definition of substandard or blighted property, and that the property owner can address any grievances in court.

• Ano ther Attorney General opinion, this one written in 1981 to a request from Senator Ernie Chambers.
• A 1991 opinion on eminent domain had this to say about the definition of "public purpose:"

  A public purpose has for its objective the promotion of the public health, safety, morals, security, prosperity, contentment, and the general welfare of all the inhabitants. No hard and fast rule can be laid down for determining whether a proposed expenditure of public funds is valid as devoted to a public use or purpose~ Each case must be decided with reference to the object sought to be accomplished and to the degree and manner in which that object affects the public welfare.

The Lincoln Journal Star is reporting that John Q. Hammons, owner of the Embassy Suites in Downtown Lincoln, is planning to build a 4-story, $16 million Residence Inn on the block bounded by 17th, 18th, P, and Q Streets. It is being advertised as the first private investment into the Antelope Valley Project. That block is on the far western edge of Antelope Valley. Some serious questions need to be answered about how Hammons plans to acquire the land needed to build the hotel. Most of the owners of property on that block found out about the hotel today just like the rest of us. I hope Lincoln doesn't wander down the slippery road of eminent domain abuse. Stay tuned...

When Robert Putnam's Bowling Alone was released in 2000, it took the academic and civic world by storm. Putnam's thesis is, in short, that as bowling leagues go, so goes society. Bowling leagues have decreased over the years, a trend which is associated with simultaneous declines in civic participation, social capital, and so on. Now Jason Kaufman has a retort. For the Common Good? American Civic Life and the Golden Age of Fraternity argues that, contrary to Putnam's assertions, the decline of some types of civic organizations -- fraternal clubs in particular -- is actually a good thing. Fraternal organizations were divisive; their decline indicates that Americans are becoming more equal and less desirous of exclusive clubs to "protect" themselves from others. Kaufman's proposal sounds far from bullet-proof, but I'm intrigued enough to pick up his book from the library. (It doesn't appear Lincoln's libraries have a copy yet.) I'll keep you posted.

That is the reaction of Mayor Colleen Seng to the five-year budget forecast presented to the City Council yesterday. Inspiring. She is right, though. Lincoln is in trouble. The city projects an $8.7 million budget shortfall next year, the largest ever in both absolute dollars and as a proportion of the budget. Next year's budget is projected at $139.3 million, a nearly 12% jump over the previous year. The gap is equivalent to 6.25% of the projected budget. Property taxes are an obvious candidate as a funding source. As the Lincoln Journal Star noted today, "Property taxes fund 28 percent of the budget, and over the past decade the city property tax rate has been reduced 42 percent, from 51 cents per $100 of assessed value in 1991 to 29.5 cents now." During the same period state sales taxes increased .5%, equivalent to 50 cents per $100 of sales, in order to cover state budget shortfalls. Although it is somewhat unfair to mix state and local tax rates in a conversation like this, the overall tax burden on individuals is still an important part of any revenue-raising discussion. As Councilman Glenn Friendt noted, "Eventually the piper has to be paid, and we're at that point." The City Council has a long history of putting off or skirting difficult decisions. The most notable act of leadership they have demonstrated recently was voting to enact an almost-total smoking ban in workplaces and public areas -- and even that issue was filled with frequent demonstrations of indecision and cowardice from the Council. The Journal Star notes that "[Friendt] said the council is under tremendous pressure to make short-sighted fixes, kowtow to special interest groups and live up to political pronouncements