PAPERWORK

This is one of the more amusing advertisements I've seen for a baseball team in years.

OHIO IDIOT FILE

No, I'm not talking about drivers or the BMV -- not this time. The state's elected officials from Gov. Taft (who even Republican field marshall Grover Norquist called an idiot) on down make the crazed weavers on 77 look like MENSA members. Today's example is State Sen. Larry A. Mumpher, who seeks to ban intellectual freedom in the state.

Marion Sen. Larry A. Mumper’s "academic bill of rights for higher education" would prohibit instructors at public or private universities from "persistently" discussing controversial issues in class or from using their classes to push political, ideological, religious or anti-religious views.

Senate Bill 24 also would prohibit professors from discriminating against students based on their beliefs and keep universities from hiring, firing, promoting or giving tenure to instructors based on their beliefs.

Mumper, a Republican, said many professors undermine the values of their students because "80 percent or so of them (professors) are Democrats, liberals or socialists or card-carrying Communists" who attempt to indoctrinate students.

"These are young minds that haven’t had a chance to form their own opinions," Mumper said. "Our colleges and universities are still filled with some of the ’60s and ’70s profs that were the anti-American group. They’ve gotten control of how to give people tenure and so the colleges continue to move in this direction."

Sadly, Mumpher is not alone in his quest.

The language of Mumper’s bill comes from a 2003 booklet by conservative commentator David Horowitz that lays out how students can persuade universities to adopt the "bill of rights." The booklet says it is "dedicated to restoring academic freedom and educational values to America’s institutions of higher learning."

The issue has gone national.

Horowitz created Students for Academic Freedom, a group based in Washington that has chapters on 135 campuses, to promote his views.

I cannot imagine why people who think and read for a living might be opposed to the conservative agenda in the United States, especially once that agenda begins restricting freedom and liberty. Stalin would be proud of Mr. Mumpher and his totalitarian ilk.

MIGHT THINGS GET BETTER IN KANSAS?

They might, if the rumor that Bush will appoint Sam Brownback to head the World Bank is true. Americans unfamiliar with Sen. Brownback would do well to read Thomas Frank's What's the Matter With Kansas? (or read his speechs in the Congressional Record) to get an idea of his repugnant combination of religious fundamentalism and corporate gladhanding (both on a par that would make many Republicans blush). He'd make a terrible World Bank president, but whether he'd be worse there than in the Senate is an open question. If the governor of Kansas has the power to appoint a midterm replacement, Brownback's replacement would be a massive improvement.

PROHIBITING PUNDIT PAYOLA

Frank Lautenberg has been great since his return to the Senate in 2002. He and Ted Kennedy are reacting to the Bush payoffs of pundits with the "Stop Government Propaganda Act." Even if they don't get enough Republicans to pass it (and I can't say how effective an act it would be in practice), they are putting the GOP in the position of defending deceit (instead of simply committing it).

PAY TO PLAY

You may be familiar with conservative radio host Armstrong Williams's admission that he took money from the administration to promote its policies. As Howard Kurtz reports in today's Washington Post, he was not alone.

encouraging marriage as a way of strengthening families.

"The Bush marriage initiative would emphasize the importance of marriage to poor couples" and "educate teens on the value of delaying childbearing until marriage," she wrote in National Review Online, for example, adding that this could "carry big payoffs down the road for taxpayers and children."

But Gallagher failed to mention that she had a $21,500 contract with the Department of Health and Human Services to help promote the president's proposal. Her work under the contract, which ran from January through October 2002, included drafting a magazine article for the HHS official overseeing the initiative, writing brochures for the program and conducting a briefing for department officials.

Now we know why the media parrots so much of the administration's propaganda without criticism -- it's not "frames" or slick appeals to patriotism. They're being paid off!

GET YOUR PUBLIC ART FUNDED IN CUYAHOGA COUNTY

Schedule of workshops, application guidelines, and other details are available on the county's department of development site.

MR. ZERO + 1

Good news from Comiskey. (Yes, it happens.) Apparently reliever Shingo Takatsu (a.k.a. Mr. Zero) enjoyed playing with the White Sox so much last season that his experience convinced fellow Japanese veteran Tadahito Iguchi to fire his agent, reduce his contract demands by over $14 million, shun the Red Sox and Yankees, and sign a two-year deal to become the Sox' second baseman. As a transplant in Indians country, I am thrilled, because I no longer have to endure Willie Harris's anemic at-bats. The outfield still looks toothless, but Iguchi and A.J. Pierzynski help get back some of the offense lost when Ordonez and Lee left.

While I'm on the subject of happy Chicago sports stories (they're rare, so indulge me!), the Bulls are over .500 after thrashing Atlanta. If they keep this up, you'll see more mentions of them in this space.

I'VE WAITED A LONG TIME TO SAY THIS

...but this Bulls team is fun to watch. Am seeing the kids finish beating up the NBA champs in Auburn Hills.

ZORN IS RIGHT

He thinks Obama will run for president in '08 and I do as well (for reasons I have mentioned earlier).

UPDATE: Summing up the points I made earlier, Obama's first two books in his new deal are geared to bring him massive pop-culture exposure in 2006 (when interest in the presidential race -- especially among big donors and campaign workers -- will rise). The timing and structure of the contract leads me to believe the third book will be one of those "my vision for the nation" campaign tomes Clinton and Bush put out during their races. We also should not forget that Obama took time out of his schedule last fall to raise money for Iowa state legislature candidates. Of all the many places Obama could have gone last October -- when he was in great demand -- why did he go to Iowa for state lege races? Those folks will be important come caucus time.

SHIT COMES BACK TO HAUNT YOU

Following up on the Dave Matthews fecal dumping scandal from last summer, Illinois prosecutors have filed charges against the tour bus driver.

The driver, Stefan Wohl, is charged with misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct and discharging contaminates to cause water pollution, Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine said. The charges carry a maximum penalty of one year in jail and up to $10,000 fine if convicted.[...]
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has also filed a civil lawsuit seeking $70,000 in damages against the band and driver alleging they violated state environmental laws.

JOHNSTOWN PREFERS A RUSH OF AIR TO WATER

Cambria County is getting a new wind turbine generator plant.

Gamesa Corp., of Vitoria, Spain, will construct a plant that makes wind turbine generator blades in the South Park Industrial Complex in Ebensburg, about 70 miles east of Pittsburgh.

The project will create jobs, including temporary construction positions and permanent manufacturing positions, Rendell's office said in a statement.

"Not only is this one of the most significant economic development announcements in decades for the Johnstown area, but it also represents a significant turnaround with Pennsylvania luring high-paying manufacturing jobs from overseas," Rendell said at the announcement in Ebensburg.

Gamesa has received a financial package worth $9.31 million through the state's Department of Community and Economic Development, which includes loans, grants and tax credits.

The wind energy manufacturer in September announced it would put its U.S. headquarters and East Coast development offices in Philadelphia and that it would build a manufacturing plant somewhere in the state. The site of the plant wasn't known until Friday.

SOLD AMERICAN

Mystery writer, friend of Willie Nelson, Texas Jewboy, and general troublemaker Kinky Friedman has announced that he is running for governor of Texas as an independent.

"I have achieved a lot of my dreams in life and I want to see that young Texans achieve some of theirs,' Friedman said in a telephone interview. He added, "I want to be governor because I need the closet space."

Friedman said the main priorities in his campaign will be reforming the Texas education system, adding safeguards in the judicial process where Texas ranks as the nation's leader in capital punishment and establishing a peace corps for the state.

Plus, he wants "to fight the wussification of Texas."

"I am determined to get back to a time when the cowboys all sang and their horses were smart," Friedman said.

I wouldn't be surprised if he comes in second to whichever Republican gets the nomination in that one-party state.

AIRBUS UNVEILS LARGEST PASSENGER PLANE

I do not know who will buy them (I'm guessing not USAir), or where these giant airplanes will fly. I do know my father will likely be among the first American passengers on one, given his frequent flying tendencies...

CLEVELAND BUSES ABANDON NATURAL GAS

...in favor of diesel.

RTA says the savings never played out - comparable new natural-gas buses would cost an extra $42,000 each. In addition, the agency said today's clean-diesel technology is environmentally competitive with natural gas.

Rich Kassel, a vehicle pollution expert for the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the days of the "smoking diesel buses" are over.

"Bus engine technology has moved in the last five years as far as car technology did in the last 25 years," Kassel said. "The diesel bus they are going to buy will be cleaner than 12-year-old natural gas buses. . . . But they are not as clean as the new natural gas buses."

BEFORE I FORGET...

...thanks, Barbara. We here in Ohio appreciate your support.

MICROBREWING AS A CLOSED INDUSTRIAL LOOP

The Plain Dealer has a profile of the Great Lakes Brewing Company's attempts to develop a zero-waste operation in the Sunday Magazine. (One of the finer brews is the Cuyahoga-inspired Burning River Pale Ale.)

BOOK OF THE WEEKEND

Stephen B. Oates's Let the Trumpet Sound, still the best biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. (in terms of both the arc of his life and his significance in his times) I've read.

HOW SUCCESSFUL IS CHICAGO'S RECYCLING PROGRAM?

Not very, according to a study conducted by the city's Streets and Sanitation Department, with a recycling rate lower than the national average from 15 years ago. There is talk about how effective the blue bag program (similar to Pittsburgh's, in which residents put all their recyclables in blue bags and leave them by the curb) is compared to separate pickups for recyclables and garbage.

The city announced plans to spend three-quarters of a million dollars on a PR campaign to encourage recycling. Education is crucial, though it should highlight not simply what to do with your domestic disposables but also show how sustainable recycling can work, and the dangers of programs that do not use sustainable methods. Some problems in the Chicago area include dumping of recyclables in landfills, and contracting out the most dangerous sorting and processing work in African American neighborhoods. (For more on the latter, read David N. Pellow's Garbage Wars.) Chicago's recycling difficulties indicate that despite the progress of the past thirty years, we are still a long way from sustainable waste management strategies in the United States.

HOW ILLINOIS GOP FOLDED

Sure, the national political trends have been dismaying the past few years, but at least we may take solace in Illinois. The Tribune has a feature up about the Republicans' decline there, tracing it back (incredibly, to those of us who lived through the Thompson era) 37 years. The focus, however, is on George Ryan.

SMOKE-FREE IN OHIO?

It could happen; Lakewood is mulling a band on smoking in bars. As my voice is currently a mess in part due to choking smoke in Seattle bars, I welcome the trend...

WAKING UP

Quiet here because I've been travelling away from my home computer, but more shortly...